First place in the Premier League, first place in the Champions League: under Klopp's successor Arne Slot, the Reds are currently in top form. But the coach is not talking big. And rightly so, according to blue Sport experts Marcel Reif and Pascal Zuberbühler.
No time? blue News summarizes for you
- Liverpool top the tables in both the Premier League and the Champions League.
- This was not to be expected after the departure of coaching legend Jürgen Klopp, especially as his successor Arne Slot had previously "only" enjoyed great success in the Netherlands.
- The blue Sport experts Marcel Reif and Pascal Zuberbühler have nothing but praise for coach Arne Slot.
- However, Zubi believes that things could get complicated for the Reds towards the end of the season, as the contracts of several key players are due to expire. Will these players still be fully committed?
Arne Slot led Feyenoord Rotterdam to the league title in the 2022/23 season and finished runners-up and cup winners the following year. Anyone who suspected that Liverpool would flounder under the 46-year-old Dutchman after the Jürgen Klopp era, which lasted from October 2015 to summer 2024, has just been proven wrong. Under Arne Slot, the machinery is running like clockwork.
Third in the table in the previous season, Slot is top of the Premier League after ten rounds. They have eight wins, one draw and one defeat to their name. No team has conceded fewer goals (6) and with Tottenham, Manchester City and Chelsea, there are only three teams that have scored more goals.
And in the Champions League, Liverpool lead the table after four games with maximum points and a goal difference of 10:1. The Reds are the only one of all 36 teams to have won four games. They sent reigning Bundesliga champions Leverkusen home with a 4-0 thrashing on Tuesday.
Reif has nothing but praise for Arne Slot
The fact that things are going so well under Slot is anything but a matter of course, as blue Sport expert Marcel Reif underlined twice and three times over with his comments before the gala against Leverkusen: "This is the most demanding job you can take on as a coach in decades. When you come to Liverpool after Jürgen Klopp has just walked out the door and he's not really out. He's omnipresent in this city. My son (Jan Reif is Senior Director Team Bayer 04 Leverkusen; editor's note) is there today (November 5) with Leverkusen. And he told me that there are still canonizations. Just like Elvis. Elvis is alive. And Jürgen has to come around the corner at some point. And Arne Slot did that fascinatingly well. Similar to Flick in Barcelona, nobody thought he could do that either."
Slot didn't change much, but he "kissed the team awake a bit". Because it was "also part of the truth" that certain players were tired of Jürgen Klopp. "And now they're first in the league and playing really good football."
«Liverpool are playing it well. But it will be interesting to watch - especially at the end of the season.»
blue Sport expert
The Liverpool coach, however, is not getting carried away, remains modest and does not want to know anything about Liverpool being a top favorite in the race for the title. Instead, he prefers to point out that Manchester City have scored 31 points more than Liverpool in the last two seasons combined.
In the Champions League studio of blue Sport, presenter Valentina Maceri wants to know from Reif before the clash against Granit Xhaka's Leverkusen whether this is false modesty or a tactically clever move. The 74-year-old says: "I think he would be well advised to keep his head down. As long as they say hello from the top." The difference to Man City at the moment is that they are also fulfilling their duty against the supposedly small teams and winning, such as against Brighton when they still managed a 2:1 victory despite being 1:0 down, while City stumbled over Bournemouth (2:1) in their last league game.
It should be noted that this was City's first league defeat of the season. In contrast to Liverpool, Pep Guardiola's team have two draws to their name, while Liverpool have only one, meaning that the champions are a measly two points behind Arne Slot's team after ten rounds.
In the Champions League, Man City are tenth in the table with seven points from four games and are therefore more or less on course. However, the 1:4 defeat away at Sporting Lisbon last Wednesday must be seen as a shot across the bow.
Zubi sees dark clouds gathering
Pascal Zuberbühler also believes it is premature to get carried away with euphoria just yet. "Liverpool are playing well. But it will be interesting to watch - especially at the end of the season. Because the contracts of three very important players are coming to an end." These are Virgil van Dijk, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Mo Salah, who Zubi says are "shining at the moment". "You know what it's like at the end of the season. It will be very interesting to see whether their minds are no longer so much on Liverpool, but on transfers." He is curious to see how coach Slot will deal with this. "It will be interesting mentally to see whether they are still as focused," said Zubi.
«And again, he does it with a beer calm, Arne Slot.»
blue Sport expert
And Reif says: "Mo Salah actually wanted to leave, he was tired of Klopp. He has so many miles on the clock. Arne Slot will have to moderate that, he'll have to rebuild, for sure. Van Dijk will stay, I think. Van Dijk is THE face of Liverpool now. And again, he does it with a beer calm, the Arne Slot. He doesn't want to produce the big headlines either, doesn't always want the glitter in the hut. Let's do our job, it was always louder with Jürgen."
Liverpool continue their Premier League campaign on Saturday with a home game against Champions League contenders Aston Villa, while Manchester City travel to Brighton & Hove Albion. You can watch the games live on blue Sport.
