Arne Slot believes that Liverpool has yet to establish itself as a contender for the Premier League title, despite the impressive start to his tenure.
Slot has become the first Liverpool manager, or head coach, to secure six wins from his opening seven matches since Tom Watson in 1896.
If Liverpool keep a clean sheet against Wolves on Saturday, it would set a club record of just one goal conceded in their first six league games.
However, the 46-year-old, who expects Alisson to return from a muscle injury in time for the match at Molineux, remains cautious.
He attributes Liverpool’s strong start to a favorable fixture list and insists it’s too early to label them as title challengers.
“I know how good we are but we still have to prove things,” said Slot.
“The fixtures that are coming after the international break [Chelsea, Arsenal, Brighton and Aston Villa] are tougher fixtures than we have now.
“But one thing I’ve noticed in the Premier League compared to the league I have come from is that every team has a few players who cost £40m-£50m and have a lot of quality.
“I know every manager says there are no easy games in the Premier League but it is true.
“It is always difficult to judge the league table after six or seven games. If you look at Wolves they were really unlucky playing Arsenal, Newcastle, Chelsea and Villa.
“That is a different fixture list than the one we had.”
Slot has stated that he has no issues with the title race being characterized as a contest between Manchester City and Arsenal.
His primary focus is on narrowing the gap, especially after Liverpool finished 22 points and then nine points behind the champions in the previous two seasons.
“I don’t mind if they underestimate or overestimate us,” he said.
“The situation is Manchester City have taken 31 points more than us in the last two seasons and we’re trying to close that gap.
“They [Jürgen Klopp’s side] came closer last season than the season before and now we are trying even harder to close the gap.”
Asked about the differences between Eredivisie football with Feyenoord and competing at the top of the Premier League with Liverpool, Slot added: “If you work in the Eredivisie and you play a lower league team…take my final game with Feyenoord, we played a lower team, a newly-promoted club (Excelsior) and they didn’t have one chance, they didn’t arrive once close to the goal and Feyenoord were not even playing that well in that game.
“So with the Premier League, with every team able to buy players for a lot of money, every team has a lot of quality and you can never feel that the game is yours.
“There is always a threat because of the quality players in this league – at every team.
“Normally in most leagues it is the top seven or eight but because the Premier League has so much money and we have to do so much press.
“As a coach you are full on for every game play whether it is Eredivisie or the Premier League, but the games in the Premier League are tougher than the Eredivisie.
“So you don’t see any differences in the amount the players run in kilometers and the spirits they make but the duels; a duel against Virgil van Dijk is different to a duel against a player from a newly-promoted team in the Eredivisie.
“So it asks and demands a lot of you every single Premier League game.
“That is why you see more rotation in the Premier League than any other league.”
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