Arne Slot rejects ‘weird’ Liverpool response to flying Premier League start

The Reds could briefly go four points clear if they beat Crystal Palace in the Premier League on Saturday

Arne Slot has won eight of his first nine games in charge (Getty Images)

Arne Slot said it would be “weird” if his Liverpool players got carried away by being top of the league and does not expect them spend every second of their day looking at the table on their phones.

The Dutchman’s side will go four points clear – if possibly only for a couple of hours – if they beat Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park on Saturday.

They have made a flying start under him, winning five of their first six league matches, but Slot is conscious he still has the core of the side who won the Premier League and the Champions League under Jurgen Klopp, in Alisson, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Andy Robertson, Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah.

Liverpool also spent more days in first place during the 2023-24 season than the eventual champions Manchester City or Arsenal and Slot believes that, at a club of their magnitude, they should expect to occupy the position.

He explained: “We are Liverpool so players here are used to being on top of the table. It would be very weird if a player at Liverpool all of a sudden would have his head in the clouds. That would definitely not be normal.

“These players are experienced enough to know we have only played six games and the schedule we had. Virgil, Ali, Trent, Robbo and Mo won the league here and the Champions League here, so for them it is a nice thing to be on top of the table but I am not expecting them to watch their mobile every second of the day.”

Slot shrugged off suggestions that a 12.30 kick-off – a time that was a bugbear for former manager Jurgen Klopp – would be a problem in itself.

He smiled: “If 12.30 was a difficult time to perform then I am a stupid manager because I train every day at midday.”

Slot is waiting to see if summer signing Federico Chiesa is fit for Saturday’s game and if so, whether to include him in the matchday squad.

The Italian missed Wednesday’s 2-0 win over Bologna and Slot added: “He didn't train in the last days, he came in today to see if he could train. If he can, then I still have a decision to make as we can only select 20 and he hasn't trained for a few days. But first of all we have to wait and see if he can even train."