Arne Slot says the fixtures after the international break will show just how likely his side is to win the Premier League. Liverpool is top of the standings right now.
It has, clearly, been a very good start for Liverpool under new head coach Arne Slot. With only Nottingham Forest having taken any points from the Reds this season and only four goals having been conceded to date, the Dutchman can be relatively pleased.
Nonetheless, he and his players are staying grounded. Liverpool has beaten Manchester United at Old Trafford this season and gone to AC Milan and won as well, but far bigger tests are just around the corner.
“We still have to prove that when we come across Arsenal, Newcastle, Chelsea [and] Aston Villa [to see] if we can then still be up there with Champions League games included as well,” Slot said during his post-Wolves press conference.
“I think everybody is realistic enough,” he continued. “All the players have so much experience that they understand six games into the season doesn’t give you a realistic view on the league table. That is more like in 19 games then you can really feel, ‘OK, where are we?’.”
Next weekend, Liverpool has Crystal Palace in the Premier League before the October internationals are upon us. And after that, things will really ramp up when it comes to the big games.
Liverpool hosts Chelsea and then goes to Arsenal with a Champions League trip to RB Leipzig in between. After that is a double-header with Brighton, first in the Carabao Cup and then the Premier League.
A trip to Spurs in the Carabao Cup follows before away games against Bournemouth, Sporting CP and Brighton. Tottenham then goes to Manchester in the Premier League.
Arsenal, also a point behind Liverpool as things stand, has Southampton (home) and Bournemouth (away) next in the league. It has Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League in the lead-up to hosting the Reds at the end of the month before Preston North End in the Carabao Cup and then a trip to Newcastle. Before the end of November, Arsenal has Chelsea, Nottingham Forest and West Ham United.
For each of the title contenders, some big games are coming. Liverpool is top of the pile right now, but as Slot says: we are about to find out how likely it is the Reds can stay in that position all the way to May.
