Liverpool Ian Rush has been talking Liverpool, Arne Slot and the Premier League title battle
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Liverpool's Dutch coach Arne Slot gives a press conference on the eve of the UEFA Champions League football match between Girona and Liverpool, at the Montilivi stadium in Girona on December 9, 2024. (Photo by Josep LAGO / AFP) (Photo by JOSEP LAGO/AFP via Getty Images)
Liverpool boss Arne Slot has won 18 of his 21 matches in charge(Image: JOSEP LAGO/AFP via Getty Images)
It's down to Champions League business for Liverpool tonight. But while a seventh European Cup would certainly not go amiss, the prize most people connected with the club cherish is a second Premier League crown and a first in front of supporters.
Liverpool lifted the 2019-2020 title in in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic in a deserted Anfield bar from staff and some family and friends.
They've gone close to lifting it again since, in the 2021-22 campaign, but with Manchester City struggling full stop and Arsenal struggling to turn draws into wins, it increasingly feels that this could be the Reds' opportunity.
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They currently sit four points clear at the top, boasting a game in-hand on an impressive, second-placed Chelsea team. Liverpool also top the Champions League group stage, which is a position they will hope to cement with victory in Girona this evening.
Given the Reds are also through to the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup, it represents a superb start to the season and superb start to life in the Anfield hotseat for new head coach Arne Slot.
And one man who has certainly been impressed is Liverpool's all-time leading goalscorer Ian Rush. “Arne Slot has been fantastic, he’s made a brilliant start,” Rush told SportsBoom.com. “I was on pre-season tour with him (in America), and it went well there, he’s had a great impact.
“The Premier League is obviously a lot harder, but he’s done an unbelievable job so far. He’s only lost one league match so far, which is a great record considering he only took over this summer.
“There’s still a long way to go and some big games coming up, but the club is in a great position. And some of those big games are at Anfield, so that does help.
“They’re really heading in the right direction.”
A disappointing 1-0 home defeat to Nottingham Forest aside, Slot has an unblemished Reds record, winning 18 of his 21 matches in charge including a superb 2-0 home victory over defending champions Manchester City earlier this month.
City bounced back in their following outing, 3-0 at home to Forest, but then dropped further points at the weekend as they had to settle for a 2-2 draw at Crystal Palace.
Pep Guardiola's side are now eight points behind Liverpool, having played a match more, and have won just once in their last nine fixtures in all competitions.
But Rush warned: “Manchester City might have lost some games, but I’d never write City off. Liverpool beat them, but City always come good in January, always.
“January, for me, is the most important part of the season. There’s no internationals now until March, so I think from a club managers point of view they’d like that.
“The time we did lose to Nottingham Forest, well that was just after then international break. We also struggled against Southampton after the international break. We won, but we didn’t play well.
“But the sign of a good team is when you don’t play well, and you still win – and that’s what Liverpool have done at stages this season."
After Girona, the Reds return to Premier League action at home to Fulham on Saturday.