Liverpool manager Arne Slott insists the Premier League leaders need no motivation as Manchester City moved from defeat to Brighton to a five-point lead at international level with a win over Aston Villa.
A sense of opportunity swept through Anfield just before kick-off as news broke that the defending champions had lost on the south coast, but Slott said that was not the driving force behind the 2-0 win, their 15th win in 17 games this season.
“I don’t know how the fans felt. I can only say that if the players need extra motivation, which is a bad idea,” the Dutchman said.
“When you play in front of the fans at Anfield, you just have to be motivated. I don’t need motivation from other games.”
Liverpool’s tally of 28 points from 11 games has only been bettered once in the last 34 seasons, when they comfortably won the league title in 2019-20 when they recorded 31 points at the same stage.
It’s been a pivotal week in Slot’s brief Anfield career, coming just days after beating Bayer Leverkusen on Tuesday and beating Brighton to make it four wins in the Champions League.
But he doesn’t get carried away by his rivals’ mistakes because he knows that fortunes can change quickly.
“Obviously it was a big week, but like every game,” he added.
“Hopefully we can spend a lot of time this week ahead. We are also trying to compete in the league, Champions League and cup competitions.
“We also know that this is a long season and teams like Arsenal, Chelsea and City can win as many games in 17 years as we can.”
The only downside to a win secured by goals from Darwin Nunez and Mohamed Salah was Trent Alexander-Arnold’s hamstring injury, which will likely rule him out of England’s upcoming Nations League matches.
“It’s hard to say how serious it is, but it’s always serious when a player goes out in the first half,” Slott said.
“I asked for it because I felt something, so first of all, it’s not a good sign.
“It’s always difficult to say exactly what happened after the game. But we’ll wait.
“I would be surprised to see him play for England this week, but I hope he can.”
Villa have lost four games in a row for the first time under manager Unai Emery.
“Of course the result is not good, but I am confident in how we played. “I am confident because I think we are heading in the right direction after this game,” he said.
“We wanted to get a point, but against Liverpool today we can accept the result. Because they feel really strong at home and don’t really dominate or create chances against us.
“They won and we accept it.”
Villa had two penalty appeals in the second half. One was for pulling Pau Torres’ shirt and the other was for a foul on a defender.
“For me it was clearly a penalty because he pulled Pau Torres’ shirt. “In Europe we know it’s a penalty kick, but in England they want to use VAR,” he said.
“It was clear in this situation. I always respect and accept the referee’s decision, but when I saw it and VAR did it, it was clearly a penalty kick.
“It was a very important moment in the game. The game would have been different if we had had the chance to score a penalty kick.
“I accept the result and the referee’s decision. [but] “I don’t agree.”
