Liverpool manager Arne Slot rejected the notion that his team’s imminent Premier League title triumph has come easy, saying Friday that it is harder than ever to win games in England’s top division.
Slot is on the verge of becoming just the 12th manager — and first Dutch coach — to capture English soccer’s biggest prize, with Liverpool needing just a point against Tottenham on Sunday to clinch a record-tying 20th top-flight title.
Liverpool holds a 12-point lead over Arsenal, whose inconsistency is highlighted by drawing 13 games this campaign, and is 18 points clear of third-place Manchester City, the team which won the last four titles but has regressed spectacularly this season because of a mixture of injuries and mental fatigue.
When questioned at his pre-match news conference whether it was fair to say the Premier League hasn’t been the strongest this season, Slot pointed to the tight race for the five Champions League qualification spots that sees just four points separate City and seventh-place Aston Villa.
“I think it has never been so exciting for a top-four, top-five finish,” Slot said. “The year before, it was quite clear which clubs would probably get the first three or four positions. It’s never been as hard to end up top four or top five in the Premier League.
“In my opinion, it’s a really difficult league because that’s what I’ve experienced over here. There has never been an easy game. It has always been really hard to win a game of football, but maybe that tells you something about us.”
Liverpool has won 24 of its 33 games so far, exerting more control in matches under Slot that it used to under his predecessor, Jurgen Klopp. The margin of victory has only been more than two goals on five occasions.
“Although we aren’t the only team in this league who finds it hard to win a game of football by a margin of three or four goals,” Slot said. “That was maybe easier two, three, four, five years ago.
“So either the teams aren’t so good anymore — the Liverpools, the Citys, the Arsenals — or we are still very good and the other teams have the funds to spend just as much, or in some situations even more, than Arsenal, City and Liverpool.”
Slot described getting the chance to seal the league in front of Liverpool’s fans as a “big responsibility.” In 2020, when Liverpool claimed league title No. 19 to end a 30-year drought, it was clinched as a result of a loss by second-place City and no fans could attend the final matches at Anfield during the pandemic.
“We are aware of the fact the last time this club won the league, it was Covid time,” Slot said. “So everyone is looking forward to Sunday. But we know there is still a job to be done. And that’s one point.”
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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Steve Douglas, The Associated Press
