Too soon to say if Liverpool in title race

Liverpool boss Arne Slot feels his side's early ascent to the top of the Premier League is not a "realistic view" of the table.

Life after Jurgen Klopp is not turning out to be too bad as the Reds climbed to the summit after goals from Ibrahima Konate and Mohamed Salah earned a 2-1 win at Wolves – their fifth victory in six league games.

Defeat at home to Nottingham Forest a fortnight ago remains their only blip as they have also won in the Champions League and Carabao Cup in a promising beginning to Slot's reign.

It is early days, but the evidence suggests they have the capacity to challenge for the title alongside Manchester City and Arsenal.

The Dutchman is calling for calm and says the table will not properly shape up until halfway through the campaign.

"Everyone is realistic enough, all the players they understand that six games into the season doesn’t give you a realistic view on the league table," Slot said.

"That is more like 19 games that you can feel, 'Right, where are we?’.

"But it helps if you get some good results, especially if you bring in a new manager and being a successor of such a successful one.

"Everybody understands that if we’d have lost four or five of these first six fixtures life would have been a bit different to how it is now."

Slot added there are tougher days ahead, referencing Wolves’ tricky early-season fixtures.

"We still have to prove that if we come across Arsenal, Newcastle, Chelsea and Aston Villa if we can still be up there, with Champions League games included as well," he said.

"I don’t think it’s necessary for me to convince the players for the challenges we still face.

"To play in the Champions League and then play Arsenal and Aston Villa and all the top teams we are going to face after the next international break.

"For us there is a lot to prove, especially if you look at the season two years ago and it is almost completely the same group."

Slot expects Andrew Robertson to be back in training on Monday after he limped off in the 89th minute following a tackle by Carlos Forbs.

The manager expects Robertson to be fit for Liverpool's Champions League tie with Bologna.

"I don’t expect this to be a big problem, although you never know, but I think he just got a knock," said Slot.

"End phase of the game, maybe he was a bit tired as well because the guy who came in – Forbs, I knew him, of course, from the Dutch competition – he made it a real fight for him.

"He got a bit of a knock but I’m expecting him to be in training on Monday again, but let’s wait [and see]."

The result at Molineux extended Wolves’ winless start to the season.

They have picked up just one point from their opening six games but have played Arsenal, Chelsea, Newcastle and Aston Villa before Liverpool visited.

Boss Gary O’Neil is appreciative of the crowd supporting him.

"One point from six, you would expect a boo or cries for the manager to be changed, or some negative reaction from a fanbase," O’Neil said.

"But what you see is them staying behind to clap their team because they see what they give.

"They show a good understanding of the situation at the football club, we’ve lost two starting centre-backs this week. We’ve rushed another back from a hamstring, and we’ve just gone out and showed everyone what we are, the best we can be, for as much of the game as possible."

"In terms of the team going toe to toe with one of the biggest clubs in the country and giving them a real run and showing what we are, I was proud of what the lads gave.

"We deserve to be on more than one point from six games, but that is the nature of the Premier League.

"It was a performance that the lads should be proud of. We need to keep going, they have suffered a lot over the last six games and we will be ready to go again.

"We need to make sure we put some results on the board, I understand that and the lads understand.

"Things haven’t gone as we would have wanted them but there is a real belief that we can maximise what we can achieve this season."

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