Slot: Too early to judge Liverpool´s Premier League title chances

Arne Slot believes it is still too early to judge Liverpool’s title chances with more than half the Premier League season left to play.

The Reds sit top of the pile ahead of this weekend’s fixtures and hold a two-point lead over second-place Chelsea, with a game in hand over Enzo Maresca’s side.

Liverpool have lost just once under Slot since he took over at the start of the season – a 1-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest. They are unbeaten in 11 since then, though have dropped points in their last two outings.

Victory for Liverpool against Tottenham will see them top of the Premier League table at Christmas for the first time since 2020-21. However, they have only won the title in one of the last seven top-flight campaigns in which they have been top at Christmas, doing so in 2019-20.

Despite their strong position, Slot refused to look too far ahead.

“Judge the table after 19 games [the halfway point] because then everyone has played the same opponents,” Slot told reporters on Friday.

“Probably we had a bit of luck. For example, Arsenal had a lot of red cards in the beginning of the season. That’s why they dropped points.

“We have now received a red card, and we dropped points. We now have Tottenham away, which Arsenal had at the beginning of the season; Chelsea already played there.

“Don’t look at it where you were in the season, it is about where you are at the end of the season.”

On target pic.twitter.com/80lka1UVSQ

— Liverpool FC (@LFC) December 20, 2024

Liverpool travel to Spurs on Sunday, having also been drawn against them in the EFL Cup semi-final earlier this week.

Spurs sit 10th in the table after a season of mixed results, with their emphatic 5-0 win over Southampton last weekend coming on the back of a five-game winless streak in all competitions, while they are the second-highest scorers in the league (36) behind Chelsea.

Ange Postecoglou has come under scrutiny this season, but Slot says he is a big fan of the Australian, and hopes he can win silverware.

“It’s great work that Ange is doing. I hope, hope, hope that he [Postecoglou] wins a trophy – not the League Cup, but I am completely a fan of his team for the Europa League,” said Slot.

“People talk about trophies, trophies, trophies and that is so important. For me, his brand of football is so much more important.

“If he can combine it with winning something that would be so good for football in general because then people can stop talking about ‘is it too attacking?’ How on earth can you play too much attacking football?

“I think it is a privilege to be a season ticket holder at Tottenham and to be a fan of them at the moment because they play such a great style.”