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 side will not get carried away with their top spot in the Premier League, but the Dutchman is far from surprised by their fast start to the season.

The Reds have won 14 of Slot’s first 16 games, losing just once and the other a hard-fought draw against Arsenal. They have a 100 percent record in Europe and are also at the top of the new Champions League standings.

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

‘Quality is one thing, but consistency is another. That doesn’t surprise me, because from the first moment I started here, I saw how much energy they put into it every day. That’s why you can be consistent if you do the work every day.

‘Sometimes there is also a bit of luck involved. Most of our results were deserved, but some were close calls. Overall, I’m not surprised because of the quality I already knew was in the team. Then I saw the effort they put into achieving these results.

The Reds sit at the top of both the Premier League and Champions League table after a stunning start to the season

‘I don’t try to manage expectations within the team because we don’t talk about it.

“Well, we do, but the only expectation I have is that they put in the same effort every day. I just want them to work as hard as they can every day to best convey our habits on the field.

‘Normally that includes results, but I don’t ask them to win every match. Hopefully they do, but all I ask is daily effort. 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’, leaving him in doubt for a crucial title clash against Manchester City at Anfield on December 1.

Slot was surprised to see Luis Diaz (pictured) score a hat-trick as number 9 in Tuesday’s Champions League victory

But Slot raved about his experiment with Luis Diaz as No. 9 in Tuesday’s 4-0 win over Xabi Alonso’s Bayer Leverkusen, adding: ‘Lucho did very 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 well, but the fact that he played so well was even a surprise to me. We all see that he has better numbers than last season. I have no idea why that is, all I can think of is that the team offers many opportunities.

“When Diogo plays he scores, when Darwin (Nunez) plays he scores. When Lucho plays as a left winger he scores, but Cody (Gakpo) also scores when he plays as a left winger. That tells me that the team is setting 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 hard for me to compare it to last season. All I can tell you is how I see this season.”