Arne Slot says high-flying Nottingham Forest “deserve” to be handled as Premier League title contenders as he prepares Liverpool for a tough journey to the Metropolis Floor on Tuesday.
Third-placed Forest, chargeable for Liverpool’s solely league defeat of the season, can transfer simply three factors behind the title favourites in the event that they win a seventh straight league recreation in midweek.
Forest completed simply exterior the relegation locations final season and their surge in direction of the highest of the desk is a giant shock.
However Slot, talking at his pre-match press convention on Monday, mentioned Nuno Espirito Santo’s workforce have to be thought-about as critical rivals.
“I’ve at all times mentioned that you may choose the desk finest midway by way of the season, and that second is there now, so if Forest is up there with us, with Arsenal, Chelsea, (Manchester) Metropolis and all of the others, then they positively are a workforce that is in competitors with us and with the opposite groups,” mentioned the Dutchman.
“And so they need to be handled like this if you happen to have a look at the way in which they play, if you happen to have a look at their outcomes. So it will be a really tough problem tomorrow to get a outcome.”
Forest, who haven’t conceded a objective within the Premier League since mid-December, beat Liverpool 1-0 at Anfield in September, though Slot mentioned given their subsequent kind, the outcome was not the shock it appeared on the time.
The rise of Nuno’s workforce has given the English high flight a retro look.
Forest, beneath then supervisor Brian Clough, challenged Liverpool’s dominance within the late Seventies, successful the league title in 1978 after which succeeding them as European champions.
“That is been fairly a very long time in the past and now they’re all again at it,” mentioned Slot.
“They’re doing actually, actually good and Nuno is doing an unimaginable job. However if you happen to have a look at the sum of money they’ve spent, it is not an entire shock that they do nicely this season.”
Slot himself has had a stellar first season at Anfield thus far, successful 24 of 30 matches in all competitions, however he performed down the beginning he has loved since succeeding Jurgen Klopp.
“I’ve mentioned many instances if you happen to go right into a job you do not take into consideration the place we might be midway by way of a season in terms of the place within the league desk,” he mentioned.
“What you do attempt to deal with so much is ‘Can we make the gamers actually match, can we make them work actually arduous and might we implement the enjoying model in the absolute best approach from the beginning?’.
“You by no means know what the opposite groups are going to do.”
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