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02/10 07:01 CST Liverpool coach Arne Slot has lowered his sights for Liverpool
this season
Liverpool coach Arne Slot has lowered his sights for Liverpool this season
LIVERPOOL, England (AP) --- Liverpool's season has been far from perfect. Now
coach Arne Slot says the remainder of the campaign will have to be
near-faultless if the defending Premier League champion is to secure Champions
League qualification.
It says everything about Liverpool's ever-worsening title defense that Slot is
focusing on a top-four finish with 13 rounds still to play.
But Sunday's dramatic 2-1 loss to Manchester City was the Merseysiders' eighth
defeat in the league this season and left them 17 points adrift of first-place
Arsenal.
Liverpool is still in the Champions League and the FA Cup, so there is a lot
yet to play for. But in the Premier League, at least, Slot, who won the title
in his debut season last year, has had to lower his sights.
Speaking 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 places qualify for European club soccer's elite competition.
England is likely to receive a fifth spot because of the performances of
English teams in Europe this season.
Liverpool is sixth --- five points behind Manchester United in fourth --- and
four back from fifth-place Chelsea.
"So to close the gap of four or five points towards the number three, four or
five that means you have to win a lot," Slot said Tuesday. "And that's not what
we've done this season a lot, so that's why that has to be better and we have
to come close to perfection.
"If we don't have Champions League football it has definitely not been an
acceptable season."
Liverpool has won one of its last seven Premier League games and Slot said it
was the most challenging season he has had as a coach.
"The players are not used to losing a lot or having a lot of draws. I'm not
used to that as well," he said. "It's always more of a challenge after you lose
a game of football to get them going again than after a win (and) telling them
we were not as good as they might think they were.
"So, yes, this season has been more challenging for me as well, but you also
take nice things out of it, weird (as) that may sound because I also look at
how much improvement we are making."
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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
