'Always felt' - Arne Slot makes Federico Chiesa admission as Liverpool boss was left 'curious'

Arne Slot believes that Liverpool were not regarded as Premier League title contenders at the start of the season - as they took another step closer to being crowned champions.

The Reds’ 2-0 victory over Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium moved them 11 points clear at the summit of the table. Mo Salah and Dominik Szoboszlai were on target, with Liverpool delivering a stoic defensive performance against the current conquerors of England.

Slot arrived as Anfield boss last summer as he succeeded the legendary Jurgen Klopp. Liverpool finished third in the 2023-24 season and a period of transition from Klopp - who won seven major trophies during his time as manager including the Premier League - to Slot was expected.

But to many people’s surprise, the Reds are hurtling towards their 20th title in the club’s history. Slot admitted that although he knew there was plenty of quality in the squad he inherited - only signing Federico Chiesa in the summer transfer window - he was unsure how Liverpool would cope with competing in the Premier League and being back in the Champions League.

‘No-one saw us as a title contender’

However, having advanced into the knockout stage of Europe’s elite club competitions, winning the new league format and facing Paris Saint-Germain in the last 16, that has proven the case.

The Dutchman said: “If you start somewhere, you don’t think about where you are in terms of points at the end of the season. What we do know is that no-one saw us as a title contender when we started at the beginning of the season – and I think no-one in the world of football would have expected City not to be so close to the one that leads the league, if they are not the one that leads the league. We all know why, they had many injuries, they had a difficult period, but again today you could see – although the result maybe doesn’t show you that – how good they are as a team and how difficult they are to play against.

“I said many times already, I always felt we had a lot of quality. That’s why, except for Federico Chiesa, we didn’t bring another player in. I was curious to know, two years ago Liverpool played Champions League and wanted to compete for the league. That was difficult and then they ended up sixth. Last season, they were Europa League if I am correct, so they mostly rested their players then and they could play at the weekend and they were competing until five, six, seven, eight games before the end.

‘I was curious’

“So, what I was curious about was can we do both, what this club has done, what Jürgen has done, for so many years. Until now, we are doing quite a good job in both competitions, but we also have quite a difficult draw in the Champions League.”

Liverpool turn their attention to the visit of Newcastle United on Wednesday. It will be another stern test for the Reds after the Magpies earned a 4-3 victory over third-placed Nottingham Forest.