Arne Slot has warned that Chelsea could be Liverpool’s “toughest opponent” of the season so far but cautioned against snap judgements as he prepares for a testing week.
Liverpool are top of the Premier League table with six wins in seven games but have had a relatively kind fixture list so far under their new manager.
That changes from Sunday, when they face high-flying Chelsea, before a tough match at RB Leipzig in the Champions League in midweek and an away trip to Arsenal next week.
Over the coming weeks they also face Brighton, Aston Villa and Manchester City in the Premier League, with Bayern Leverkusen and Real Madrid both making the trip to Anfield in the Champions League.
Slot was asked Friday whether Enzo Maresca’s Chelsea, fourth in the league, would be their hardest game so far.
“If you look at the league table it is,” he said. “I think Manchester United (Liverpool won 3-0) is a very good team, a top club in England that has spent a lot of money to make the team better again, same for Chelsea in this season.
“Chelsea does really well, so if you look at the league table then they are the ones that might be our toughest opponent but it’s not always about the league table sometimes, it’s about the form on the day, it’s about their game plan.
“We had some difficulties with Wolves as well, who are bottom of the league, but it is a challenge that’s for sure.”
Former Feyenoord manager Slot, who has hit the ground running at Anfield after replacing Jurgen Klopp, has warned against reading too much into results over the next week.
“If you judge your team only on a week that would not be fair,” he said. “You have to judge as a team after this spell of games, not three of them but six, seven or eight of them, then we know better how we act and how we perform.
“If we play tough Champions League games and tough league games, it’s normal in everybody’s season and we know how difficult it is.”
He added: “The only ones who showed they could perform Champions League and in the league are Manchester City and Arsenal in the last two seasons.
“Now it’s up to us but I don’t think it’s fair to judge us after a week, even if we play really well it wouldn’t be fair. The best way to judge us is in four weeks.”
Slot confirmed that number one goalkeeper Alisson Becker would be out for the coming weeks.
“That’s a blow for him and for us because he did really well this season and has done so well for this club for so many years,” he said.
“Now the good thing is Caoimhin (Kelleher) did really well for us in previous years, in this season also, so we have a good replacement but you always want all your players now.”
