Arne Slot was quick to point out the collapse of Arsenal’s Premier League title challenge back in the 2022-23 campaign as he played down Liverpool’s hopes of winning the league. The Reds moved eight points clear at the top of the table on Sunday afternoon with a dramatic 3-2 win over Southampton.
The result came after the Gunners had won at home against Nottingham Forest and following Manchester City’s shock 4-0 loss at the hands of Tottenham Hotspur. Liverpool were made to work hard for their win against Southampton, as they trailed 2-1 at St Mary’s before Mohamed Salah claimed two second-half goals to win it for the visitors.
Arsenal are nine points behind Liverpool after 12 games with City eight points adrift. In the 2022-23 campaign, Arsenal held an eight-point lead over City in April but Pep Guardiola’s side overturned that deficit to claim a third-straight Premier League crown. It was a fact Slot was keen to emphasise with 26 games of the season to play.
The Liverpool boss said: “We know what we have to put into it to get this league and these wins. There were one or two games that were won by a big margin but the rest were all by small margins. We know how difficult it is to win a game and these players have been in the Premier League longer than I have been.
“I think last year [2022-23], even later on in the season, Arsenal led by eight points and City came back. You know if you face Arsenal, City, Chelsea, Tottenham were great [in defeating City 4-0] as well, they are all able to win so many games in a row. It is nice to have this position but we are definitely not getting carried away.”
On the result, the Liverpool boss added: “We’re really happy, especially because after an hour we were 2-1 down and maybe that wasn’t a reflection of how the first hour went. I think we dominated the whole game, which is not that easy. I’ve seen many Southampton games where they have dominated the game. But if you’re 2-1 down after an hour you’re maybe over the moon if you win 3-2. We know what we have to put into it to get the (eight-point) lead we have at the moment and to get these wins. There have been one or two games that were wins by a big margin but the rest were small margins, so we know how difficult it is to win a game.”
Arsenal are nine points behind Liverpool after 12 games with City eight points adrift. In the 2022-23 campaign, Arsenal held an eight-point lead over City in April but Pep Guardiola’s side overturned that deficit to claim a third-straight Premier League crown. It was a fact Slot was keen to emphasise with 26 games of the season to play.
The Liverpool boss said: “We know what we have to put into it to get this league and these wins. There were one or two games that were won by a big margin but the rest were all by small margins. We know how difficult it is to win a game and these players have been in the Premier League longer than I have been.“I think last year [2022-23], even later on in the season, Arsenal led by eight points and City came back. You know if you face Arsenal, City, Chelsea, Tottenham were great [in defeating City 4-0] as well, they are all able to win so many games in a row. It is nice to have this position but we are definitely not getting carried away.”
On the result, the Liverpool boss added: “We’re really happy, especially because after an hour we were 2-1 down and maybe that wasn’t a reflection of how the first hour went. I think we dominated the whole game, which is not that easy. I’ve seen many Southampton games where they have dominated the game. But if you’re 2-1 down after an hour you’re maybe over the moon if you win 3-2. We know what we have to put into it to get the (eight-point) lead we have at the moment and to get these wins. There have been one or two games that were wins by a big margin but the rest were small margins, so we know how difficult it is to win a game.”
