'The real deal' - Arne Slot hailed after Liverpool's incredible run by Micah Richards

Micah Richards believes Arne Slot is the ‘real deal’ at Liverpool and that they can improve further despite their brilliant run.

Slot has guided Liverpool to a record-breaking start with 15 wins in 17 matches and they opened up a five-point gap to Manchester City across the weekend after beating Aston Villa at Anfield.

Topping both the Premier League and the Champions League to this point has been a brilliant achievement following on after Jurgen Klopp and Richards hailed the Dutchman’s impact. “I think Slot is the real deal,” Richards said on ‘The Rest Is Football’ podcast.

“When he first came to Liverpool he spoke about how the team is good enough - he just had to make some small tweaks. I still think Liverpool have another gear to go - that’s why I think they are true contenders for the league. At times, the passing could be sharper, crisper in terms of getting it out to the wide boys. There’s more to come for Liverpool but they’ve impressed with the balance so far.”

Alan Shearer added to Richards’ comments, claiming that they have ‘so many options’ especially in the front line. Diogo Jota will likely return later this month with Slot already confirming he will be back after the international break. Plus, Federico Chiesa is likely to be out for a few weeks.

Even without them, they still boast a strong attacking line-up. After the break, they face a hugely difficult run that includes facing Real Madrid and Manchester City in the same week which could be a significant moment in their season in terms of momentum. Speaking after the win, he played down the title talk. "Because of the first reason - if you win it mostly doesn’t get better than that and yeah, you know if you win the amount of games we do, you can be ahead.

"It’s not sure yet in this league because Arsenal, City, Chelsea, all these clubs that are playing in this league, they are able to win so many games as well and that’s what they have shown in the last few seasons. So, we are only focused on ourselves and then a win against a very good team like Villa, who have done so well in the last few years, is always important."