Arne Slott admits Liverpool have dropped out of the Premier League title race and are instead focusing on Champions League qualification.
The defending Premier League champions are fourth and 14 points behind leaders Arsenal ahead of Thursday’s clash at the Emirates – live on Ski Sports.
Liverpool are unbeaten in eight Premier League games, but Slott knows his side would need something special to retain the crown.
“It’s never nice to say the title race is gone because you never know what can happen in football,” Slott said in an exclusive interview with Ski Sports. “But the last thing we should be talking about at the moment is the title race.”
Use the Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Gary Neville believes Arsenal will win the Premier League title after Chelsea held Manchester City to a 1-1 draw at the Etihad Stadium.
“We know that our league position makes it difficult to compete with Arsenal for the league title.”
“Our first focus now is on finishing in the top four, the top five to qualify for the Champions League. And all the other things we can still play for, the Champions League, the FA Cup.”
“And if something happens that nobody would expect and probably has never happened before, then we try to make sure we are ready for it. But I’m not going to Arsenal thinking about the title race. We’re going to Arsenal thinking about winning a football game against a very strong team.”
Asked if a drop in intensity from his side was the reason for Liverpool’s unrepeatable season, Slott admitted: “Yes and no, that’s a fair comment.”
Thursday, January 8, 7:00 p.m
Start at 20:00
But Slott insists that at times Liverpool’s apparent lack of intensity is more down to the opposition and how they set up to undo his side.
Slott added: “In the last nine games, people would probably say to me, and I would totally agree with them, that Villa and Brighton were the best games to watch. And I’d like these people who have their own opinion to see how Villa and Brighton played, and how all the other teams we’ve played played us.
“It’s not that I want us to play the way we’ve played in some of the other games. But maybe that’s the next step we have to take, not to rely on what the opposition is doing, we’re just good enough to always apply a quick style, but we’re not there.”
Despite admitting that some of what Liverpool have done this season is “so bad”, Slott remains optimistic about the second half of the campaign.
Use the Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta talks ahead of the match against Liverpool
“If things click and that happens, then this group of players is capable of a lot more than the results are telling us now,” he said.
“We showed that we can beat a lot of teams if everyone is available. We beat Arsenal at home, we beat Villa, Real Madrid, Inter Milan.
“But we also showed that we didn’t have the consistency to win other games to make the league table look a bit better. But if everyone is available, this is a very talented and good group and we can beat anyone.”
With the January transfer window now open, Liverpool have an opportunity to join Slott’s squad. They failed to sign Crystal Palace and England defender Mark Gehi in the summer and now face competition from rivals Manchester City.
Slott said: “I’m definitely not going to make the mistake of talking about a player linked to another club and giving my opinion on that. I can talk for hours about our players but not players from other clubs. The focus is back on the football side of things.”