Liverpool boss Arne Slot is not surprised by his team’s fine start to the season, saying he was well aware of the strength of the side he was inheriting when he arrived at Anfield as Jurgen Klopp’s successor.
Slot’s team, who has won 14 of 16 games across all competitions since he took charge, looks to remain top of the Premier League table when it hosts Aston Villa on Saturday. Liverpool has a two-point lead over holder Manchester City.
It also tops the Champions League table as the only team with four wins in four games.
“I don’t think surprise is the right word to use because I knew the quality of our team. But quality is one thing and consistency is another. I am not surprised because I saw the energy my players put in on a daily basis,” Slot told reporters on Friday.
“Sometimes a bit of luck comes with that as well. Most of our results were deserved but some have been a close call. (Also) when I started working with them I saw how much effort they put in to get these results,” he added.
Slot does not expect forward Diogo Jota, who has not played since Liverpool’s 2-1 win over Chelsea on October 20 due to injury, to return until after the international break, but would not divulge any details about his injury, saying, “There is privacy about this. He will be back one or two games after the international break.”
ALSO READ | Manchester City told to pay majority of Benjamin Mendy’s unpaid wages
Curtis Jones, who was named in interim England manager Lee Carsley’s squad for the upcoming international break, has shone for Liverpool in recent weeks, playing a sumptuous through ball for Luis Diaz to score in Tuesday’s 4-0 Champions League rout of Bayer Leverkusen.
Slot said Jones has taken his game to another level since the birth of his daughter Giselle on October 13.
“Since the moment he became a father, he started putting great performances in,” Slot said.
“He has a lot of qualities on the ball, when he has it he’s never afraid to do something special. Sometimes he is a bit too over-confident but confidence is important. He also has an incredibly high work-rate and we can trust him defensively,” the Dutchman added.
Carsley included Jones in his previous two England squads but he has yet to make a senior appearance for his country. That could change when it travels to Athens to take on Greece on Thursday. England hosts Ireland three days later at Wembley.
Comments
SHARE