Arne Slot remains tight-lipped on Liverpool’s title chances but insists he ‘isn’t surprised’ to see star-studded squad top Premier League standings

Arne Slot insists his Liverpool squad are not getting carried away with being top of the Premier League – but the Dutchman is far from surprised at their fast start to the season.

The Reds have won 14 of Slot’s first 16 games in charge, losing just once and the other being a hard-fought draw away at Arsenal. They have a 100 per cent record in Europe and also sit top of the new-look Champions League standings.

But Slot, who won the Dutch Eredivisie at Feyenoord two seasons ago, is not getting ahead of himself. ‘I don’t think surprised is the right word to use as I know the quality of my team,’ he said ahead of Liverpool hosting Aston Villa on Saturday.

‘Quality is one thing but consistency is a second thing. I am not surprised because from the first moment I started here, I saw how much energy they put in on a daily basis. That is the reason why you can be consistent, if you do the work every day.

‘Sometimes, a bit of luck comes with that as well. Most of our results were deserved but some were a close call. In general, I am not surprised because of the quality I already knew was in the team and then I saw the effort they put in to get these results.

The Reds are top of both the Premier League and Champions League standings after a stunning start to the season

Slot was surprised to see Luis Diaz (pictured) star with a hat-trick as a No9 in Tuesday’s Champions League win

‘I am not trying to manage expectations within the squad because we don’t talk about them. 

‘Well, we do but the only expectation I have is for them to put the same effort in every day. I just want them to work every day as hard as they can to get our habits on the pitch in the best way.

‘Normally results come with that but I am not asking them to win every game. Hopefully they do but all I ask is for effort on a daily basis. After Saturday they can think about their national teams.’

Liverpool will be without Diogo Jota again and Slot said the Portuguese forward will be back ‘one or two weeks after the international break’, which puts him in doubt for a crunch title clash against Manchester City at Anfield on December 1.

But, Slot was delighted with his experiment with Luis Diaz as a No 9 on Tuesday in the 4-0 win over Xabi Alonso’s Bayer Leverkusen and added: ‘Lucho did really well and it was, even for me, maybe a bit of a surprise to see how well he did.

‘I played him there for a reason, I expected him to do good but that he played so well was even a surprise for me. We all see that he has better numbers than last season. I have no clue why that is, the only thing I can come up with is that the team provides a lot of chances.

‘If Diogo is playing he scores, if Darwin (Nunez) is playing he scores, if Lucho is playing as a left winger he scores but Cody (Gakpo) also scores if he is playing as a left winger. That tells me that the team is providing goals for these great individuals.

‘And these players all have the qualities, that’s why they play for Liverpool. If they are in promising situations they can score a goal and that’s what I make of it but it’s difficult for me to compare it with last season, the only thing I can tell you is how I see it this season.’