Arne Slot insisted Liverpool will not get carried away after soaring eight points clear of Manchester City at the top of the Premier League, warning his players that Arsenal surrendered the same advantage last year. In the 2022-23 season, Arsenal were eight points clear of City in April but were overhauled by Pep Guardiola’s side, who went on to claim a third straight title.
Mohamed Salah scored twice, his second goal from the penalty spot, as Liverpool earned a comeback win at Southampton. Slot has won 10 of his 12 league matches in charge and only twice in Premier League history has a team with that record failed to go on to clinch the title.
Related: Salah double sees off Southampton and stretches Liverpool’s lead to eight points
“We know what we have to put into it to get this league and these wins,” said the Liverpool manager. “There were one or two games that were won by a big margin but the rest were all by small margins. We know how difficult it is to win a game and these players have been in the Premier League longer than I have been.
“I think last year [2022-23], even later on in the season, Arsenal led by eight points and City came back. You know if you face Arsenal, City, Chelsea, Tottenham were great [in defeating City 4-0] as well, they are all able to win so many games in a row. It is nice to have this position but we are definitely not getting carried away.”
Liverpool host Real Madrid in the Champions League on Wednesday and Slot, whose side opened the scoring at St Mary’s through Dominik Szoboszlai, recognised there is room for improvement. “We dominated the whole game, which is not that easy. Maybe you think: ‘Ah, we play the No 20, this is what we expect.’ But I’ve seen many games of Southampton, where they dominated. If you are 2-1 down after an hour, then maybe you are over the moon if you win 3-2.”
Southampton are bottom of the table with four points from 12 matches but manager Russell Martin insists they must retain belief. No Premier League team has avoided relegation after 10 defeats from their first 12 matches but Martin has challenged his players to defy the odds. “The team broke all sorts of records last year so they’re going to have to do it again,” he said. “My overriding frustration is that the goals we are conceding are so poor.”
