Liverpool manager Arne Slot says his side are not feeling nervous as they enter the Premier League run in with a seven-point lead over Arsenal.
The Reds beat Wolves 2-1 at Anfield on Sunday without having a shot on goal in the second half – while Wolves had 10 and came close to stealing a surprise point.
But Slot says narrow wins are to be expected at this stage of the season and is expecting another stern examination when they face Aston Villa away on Wednesday night.
Can Mohamed Salah break his own record for most points in a season?#FPL expert @FPLFocal discusses the numbers behind the Liverpool forward’s path to new heights in the latest Off The Bench episode ⬇️
— Fantasy Premier League (@OfficialFPL) February 17, 2025
He said: “We have won other games at home or away by one goal when it was also tight. If this happens at the end of the season people will talk about nerves, but to secure a win in the Premier League if you are only leading by only one goal is always going to be a lot of defending and a lot of hard work.
“During large parts of the season it is just hard work, but at the end of the season we talk about nerves.
Arne Slot shares an update on the fitness of Cody Gakpo and Joe Gomez 🗣️ pic.twitter.com/LR7w2WgTrc
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) February 18, 2025
“In the end phase of the season a lot of games are really tight. Not only ours. If I look at all the results, even Barcelona yesterday, who I admire a lot and have played really good football this season, in the end they were close to conceding and making it 1-1.
“It is the end phase of the season where results like this are quite common, like in our title-winning season with Feyenoord as well. It tells you that you have to fight until the end and these games you need to win to achieve something.”
‘They have a great home record’
Liverpool are yet to lose on the road under Slot, and Villa have won just one of their last 14 Premier League games against Liverpool.
But Slot thinks Villa – who have added Marcus Rashford and Marco Asensio to their attack – will prove a tough nut to crack.
“When you get the fixture list I think Villa away you look at as one of the tougher ones you can face,” Slot said
“[They have] a very good manager [Unai Emery] who always has a very good game plan. He has brought in quite a lot of good players in the winter break, and they already had a very good team. They qualified for top eight in the Champions League, so it tells you it is a strong team we are going to face.
“They have a great home record, maybe even more when they play in the evening, so we know that is going to be a challenge but we have quite an OK away record this season. We have done quite OK this season in general as well so it is a game for everyone to look forward to.”
Team news
Slot confirmed that defender Joe Gomez and Cody Gakpo are both still out of action.
He said: “Cody is the closest to coming back but Joe will take quite some time. He is going to be out for a number of weeks because of a hamstring injury.
“It’s a big blow for Joe and for us. He tries to do everything to be with the team. He works really hard to come back and then the first game when he came back after two or three minutes we saw him making a sprint and now he is out for weeks again.
“So that’s always very hard for a player in every part of the season, let alone a part of the season everyone is looking forward to.”
