LONDON (Reuters) – Liverpool’s head coach Arne Slot continued to temper expectations of his side after a hard-fought 2-2 draw at Arsenal on Sunday, though he hailed the Reds’ fighting spirit after twice going behind.
After a record-breaking start to life at Anfield, winning 10 of Slot’s opening 11 games in all competitions, Liverpool recorded their first draw of the season in a pulsating encounter at the Emirates Stadium.
Slot, who has repeatedly said it is too early in the campaign to pass judgment on his side, returned to his familiar theme after snatching a late point.
“I know you guys (the media) like to talk about title contenders and where we are exactly in the league – and that’s also part of your job,” he said. “The only thing I look at is: can you get a result in a difficult away game like this one?
“The way we did it pleased me a lot … to see that we can compete with such a strong Arsenal team in their stadium, that is very pleasing to see.
“But where that exactly will lead towards the end of the season, I cannot tell you yet.”
Mohamed Salah’s late equaliser put Liverpool into second place, a point behind champions Manchester City with Arsenal five points off the top in third.
Liverpool made the title a three-horse race for much of last season before falling away in the closing stages and their impressive recent form has raised the prospect they could mount a challenge for a second Premier League title.
“Going two times behind against a very strong and good Arsenal team, then to get a point is pleasing to see, especially because we had to play an away game in Europe this week, we had one day less to recover and to prepare,” added Slot.
The Dutchman picked up a second booking of the season to leave him one yellow card away from a touchline ban.
Slot had said he deserved the booking he received during last Sunday’s 2-1 win over Chelsea, but protested his innocence after receiving a card in the second half.
“They always fell down after they had ball possession, and that took the energy out of the game in my opinion, and I said to Ibou (Konate), ‘this is a f****** joke,” Slot said.
“The fourth official thought that I said to him, ‘you are a f****** joke’, so that’s definitely not what I said, but I got a yellow for that, so now I’m on two (yellows), so I have to be careful now.”
(Reporting by Sam Tobin; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)
