Arne Slot has said Chelsea might be Liverpool’s ‘toughest opponent’ of the season so far as the clubs prepare to meet this weekend.
Liverpool host Chelsea in the Premier League on Sunday, looking to retain their position as league leaders.
The Reds have won nine of their 10 games in all competitions so far this season, though have faced just one side – 10th-placed Nottingham Forest – currently in the Premier League’s top half.
The fixture list increases in difficulty for Slot’s side this weekend when fourth-placed Chelsea arrive at Anfield, before tough clashes with RB Leipzig (Champions League) and Arsenal in the upcoming schedule.
Ahead of the clash, Slot was asked whether Chelsea would be the best opposition his side have faced during his reign to date.
“If you look at the league table it is, I think Manchester United was a very good team, a top club in England that has spent a lot of money to make the team better again, same for Chelsea in this season,” he said at his pre-match press conference.
“Chelsea does really well so if you look at the league table then they are the ones that might be our toughest opponent but it’s not always about the league table sometimes, it’s about the form on the day, it’s about their game plan. We had some difficulties with Wolves as well, it is a challenge that’s for sure.”
Slot was asked whether he would learn more about his side after the upcoming games, though said the best time to judge Liverpool would be after a prolonged period.
“If you judge your team only on a week then that is not fair. You have to judge as a team after this spell of games, not three of them, six, seven or eight, then we know better how we act and how we perform.
“If we play tough Champions League games and tough Premier League games, it’s normal in everybody’s season and we know how difficult it is. We’ve seen it ourselves, two years ago when we played Champions League, we saw it last season with Manchester United and the only ones that showed they could perform Champions League and in the league are Manchester City and Arsenal, the last two seasons. Now it’s up to us.”
