It says everything about Liverpool’s worsening title defense that Slot is concentrating on finishing in the top four with 13 rounds still to play.
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But Sunday’s dramatic 2-1 defeat to Manchester City was the Merseysiders’ eighth defeat in the league this season and left them 17 points behind first-place Arsenal.
Liverpool are still in the Champions League and FA Cup, so there is still a lot to play for. But at least in the Premier League, Slot, who won the title in his debut season last year, has had to lower his sights.
Ahead of Wednesday’s game at Sunderland, Slot said his team had to be “close to perfection” to secure a place in next season’s Champions League.
The top four finishers qualify for the elite European club football competition. England are likely to get a fifth place finish due to the performances of English teams in Europe this season.
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Liverpool are sixth, five points behind Manchester United in fourth place, and four behind fifth-place Chelsea.
“So to close the four or five point gap on the number three, four or five means you have to win a lot,” Slot said Tuesday. “And that’s not what we’ve done a lot of this season, so it has to be better and we have to get closer to perfection.
“If we don’t have the Champions League, it definitely hasn’t been an acceptable season.”
Liverpool have won one of their last seven Premier League games and Slot said it was the most challenging season he has had as a manager.
“The players are not used to losing a lot or having many draws. I’m not used to that either,” he said. “It’s always harder after losing a football game to get them going again than after a win (and) telling them we weren’t as good as they might think.
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“So, yes, this season has been more challenging for me as well, but there are also good things coming out of it, as strange as it may seem, because I also look at how many improvements we are making.”
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AP Soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer