Arne Slot insists it is too early to call Liverpool the best team in the world after high praise from Brentford boss Thomas Frank.
The Bees manager hailed the Reds as a “level above” Arsenal and Manchester City and the “best team in the Premier League and the world” after Darwin Nunez's stoppage-time double saw Slot's side move six points clear at the top of the table. Gtech Community Stadium on Saturday.
But Slot tried to dampen that talk ahead of Tuesday night's Champions League match with Lille, in which the Reds need just a point to confirm they have qualified for the last 16 of the Champions League by finishing in the top eight of the new format to end. .
The Dutchman said: “His opinion certainly means something to me because at Brentford he showed how well he has done for this club for so many years and without spending an insane amount of money, every time he has done very well with his teams can perform in the competition.” Premier League and make it so difficult for any top five, top six team to play him, so his opinion certainly means something to me.
'But I think it's way too early to say these things. We have to deal with a lot of teams. The Champions League format is also difficult this season. Can we judge the rankings in the Champions League?
“Because each team faced different teams, you can be lucky or not with the draw you had. Don't think we were lucky though. So very difficult to judge the rankings, but always nice to get compliments from a manager who has proven to be such a good manager here in the Premier League.”
Slot, who later revealed that Diogo Jota will be sidelined for “weeks rather than months”, insists that finishing at the top of the new Champions League group stage will not be important. The Reds can secure top spot if they beat Lille and Barcelona fail to beat Benfica.
The Dutchman added: “The most important thing is that every time we go out, especially in front of our own fans, we want to win a match. And with this new format, you think finishing number one is the best position to finish. But because it's such a strange ranking, because for example I think I'm right, when I look at Paris St-Germain, I think they have the most difficult team to face every week. So they are quite low on the table, which is not their quality, but they are low.
“So maybe you can face them if you become number one. So that is a disadvantage. So I don't look at rankings in a way of, oh, if we're number one, we probably have the easiest team to face, because that's impossible to say because of this weird format, or weird, I don't know. 'Not in a negative way, but this strange format that we have now.
“So being at the top might not mean you're the best team, and being number 24 doesn't mean you're number 24 in terms of quality.
“It has a lot to do with the teams you've faced. So yes, we want to win, but not from an idea that will probably give us the best leader for the rest of the campaign.
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