Liverpool boss Arne Slot has spoken about the Premier League title race ahead of Wednesday’s visit of Newcastle United
Arne Slot has warned Liverpool he will not tolerate any complacency during the Premier League title run-in – and insisted he would have again rested his regular starters this weekend had the Reds remained in the FA Cup. Liverpool will look to maintain their stranglehold on the summit when they entertain Newcastle United this evening after Sunday’s victory at outgoing champions Manchester City moved them 11 points clear of Arsenal, who are at third-placed Nottingham Forest tonight.
With 11 games remaining, Slot’s side are odds-on favourites to claim Liverpool’s 20th championship with one bookmaker having already paid out on the Reds being title winners.
The Reds boss, though, is adamant there should be no slacking in endeavour despite his team being in such a strong position.
That’s what I always talk about,” said Slot. “It is not about the result, it is about the effort you put in. You can’t control the outcome but you can control what you put in.
“We couldn’t control the 97th minute event at Everton, but you just work as hard as you can. Like we did against City. That’s all we are asking for.
“If someone doesn’t put the effort in any more I would definitely say something about it. But these players are trained by Jurgen (Klopp) and by me for this long that they know it is all about effort. Probably – I don’t know – they talk to one another as well if someone does 1% less.
“That’s not what we expect because they did seven or eight months the same and they know how hard it is, and we couldn’t beat Everton, we couldn’t beat (Aston) Villa, we couldn’t beat Newcastle.
“The players know probably even more than the people around us how much it takes for us to win our games. That’s why I’ve full confidence that we keep working as hard as we do.”
Tonight is the last of five Premier League games in 15 days for Slot’s side, during which Liverpool have also drawn at Everton and Villa and beaten Wolves at home.
The Reds’ players will subsequently be given time off given their early elimination from the FA Cup means they are without a game until the Champions League round of 16 first leg at Paris Saint-Germain next Wednesday (March 5).
And when considering the opportunity to rest after such an intense schedule, Slot insists he would have maintained his FA Cup stance of heavy rotation this weekend had his team beaten Plymouth Argyle in the last round.
