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Arne Slot has admitted Liverpool should not even entertain the thought of competing for the Premier League title at this stage after the Reds suffered another bruising defeat on Sunday.
Liverpool was pumelled 3-0 by Manchester City at the Etihad as Slot was on the end of his biggest Premier League defeat since taking over at Anfield. The champions were second best all afternoon, with Jeremy Doku in particular putting in a sensational display from a left wing role.
The defeat was another reminder of how far Liverpool’s standards have dropped. It has now been beaten five times in its last six league matches, more than the team suffered in the entirety of last season. After another disjointed display, Slot said the focus has to be on returning to the levels of last term.
“It feels there’s too many [defeats], and the last thing I should think about now is the title race,” the Dutchman said after the defeat in East Manchester.
“We should first focus on getting results, result and result after result, before we can even think about that.
“The reality is we are eighth now, one team is quite far ahead, although City is four points away from Arsenal. The rest is quite close.
“I said last season many times, even when we were leading, the best way to judge the league table is after 38.
“Our first focus should be on getting results. The last thing we should focus on is the title race. That was something we could do last season but also not the previous two seasons. We need to improve and that’s obvious.”
City, who also endured a galling campaign as reigning champion last season, looks back to its best. Led by Doku, Erling Haaland and a rejuvenated Phil Foden, Pep Guardiola’s side dominated on Sunday.
Liverpool barely threatened and, despite two controversial referee decisions, a City win never looked in doubt.
“They were in every aspect of football better in the first half,” said a forlorn Slot after the game.
“I saw a lot of similarities between last season and this season with one main difference in that after we struggled a lot in the first 25 minutes we scored a set-piece. And that changed the game. City kept on outplaying us, but it forced us to find some energy to keep defending well.
“Last season they didn’t create that many chances. Today they created more but it wasn’t like they had chance after chance after chance, but this time they were much more effective with the chances they had.”
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