Slot has counted the cost if Liverpool slip up at Arsenal

Arne Slot's preparations for a trip to the Emirates Stadium involved doing the maths.

- RICHARD JOLLY

"If you look last season, it was seven points in between Arsenal and Liverpool," he said. "The home game was 1-1, the away game Arsenal won. So if we could change the away result - which we can't - to a win for Liverpool, that would have made a one-point difference between the two teams. So that’s why if you play your competitor, those games are vital.”

If it was another way of saying that today’s visit to Arsenal is a six-pointer, it comes with a bigger context. Such season-defining games can decide the destination of trophies. And if Slot is not explicitly saying he is targeting the title, there is a subtext. He knows he is fortunate in his inheritance and often praises his predecessor. Yet it comes with his attempts to improve upon Jurgen Klopp’s recent record.

“If you look at the last two seasons, Arsenal are far ahead of us,” he said. Arsenal and Manchester City are the role models, at least in terms of results. Defeating them over 90 minutes may be the surest way to overcome them over nine months. Slot expects that a high points total will be required to win the league: it means he does not expect the contenders to drop too many against the rest of the league.