The Liverpool head coach has been speaking about his opposite number before Sunday's showdown
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Arne Slot and Pep Guardiola
Arne Slot and Pep Guardiola(Image: Getty Images)
Arne Slot has admitted that he does not ‘look up’ to Pep Guardiola as he reacted to Man City’s recent run of form. The reigning Premier League champions travel to Liverpool on Sunday on the back of a six-game winless run.
City ended a run of five straight defeats in midweek as they drew 3-3 with Feyenoord - Slot’s former club - in the Champions League. However, Guardiola’s men had been leading 3-0, only for the Eredivisie to net three times in the final 15 minutes.
Liverpool will hope to consign further misery on City at Anfield as they look to extend their lead over Guardiola’s side to 11 points.
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If they are to bounce back, the Spaniard will have to mastermind only a second victory at Anfield, while City have only won away at Liverpool three times since 1956.
Revealing how he had gotten in touch with his former colleagues at Feyenoord to congratulate them on their Champions League comeback, Slot insisted he is not bothered by such records as he had his say on City’s recent form.
“I got in touch but not in a tactical way,” he revealed. “I just contacted people I worked with to say ‘what an amazing result and congratulations with the unbelievable performance’ and those kinds of things.
“I don’t look up to Pep - that’s not the words I would want to use. I think the reason for this is that Liverpool have always had great teams as well.
“So it’s a combination of the fans and the players. If you only had good fans and terrible players it is difficult to win any game. But if you have very good players and the fans are all behind you, this always gives you something extra.”
Of Guardiola’s record at Anfield, he said: “What is even stranger than that is that the only time Liverpool have won the league in the last 30 years was when there were no fans!
“I think another statistic is that from the last nine or 10 games we have played against City, we have only won once.
“The last eight times we played Real Madrid we had never won - until the other night when we won.
“So for me, data and statistics like that don’t mean a lot with this game.”
Meanwhile, Slot insisted that he would not be fazed by City’s recent run of results if he was in the opposing dugout, confident that Liverpool’s Premier League rivals are playing well enough to reverse their fortunes sooner rather than later.
“I don’t hope you will ever see me (when I’m losing),” he said. “If it does happen, I tend to think I am the same person.
“I remember the second season I was at AZ Alkmaar we drew the first four games - and we were up in all four games only to lose goals in the last few minutes.
“I think people thought I was the same person - but if we lose maybe once or twice I might scream at the referee for example. But people inside this building will also see that if we lose I will be thoughtful and calm.
“That’s not to say I can’t be angry, but in general I am thoughtful and calm.”
He continued: “I remember those four draws in a row. But it is also different when you play in the Premier League and the Champions League.
“In Holland, if you play Europa League or Conference League games and then a league game, it is much easier. You probably aren’t going to lose five in a row.
“In the Premier League and Champions League, this can happen to every team - especially if you are as unlucky as City have been in the last four or five games they played because the results could have been the opposite.
“I cannot answer how I would react (to five successive defeats) until I have been in that position, but I think I would be thoughtful and calm in analysing what we were doing.
“If I analysed City at the moment, I would say the results are not what they want. But if you look at how they play, I would not be concerned at all if I was in that position.”