Slot discusses Reds' visit to St James' Park as Isak transfer drama rumbles on

Ask Arne Slot who he thinks Liverpool's greatest rivals for this season's Premier League title are, and he will tell you it's too early to say.

But those whom he calls the "usual suspects" are expected to push the Reds all the way this term, with opening results a decent indicator of who poses significant threat.

Arsenal are two wins from two, Chelsea were especially impressive on Friday Night Football, while Tottenham might be poised to spring a surprise under new boss Thomas Frank after back-to-back successes.

As for Liverpool themselves, opening night ended in a flourish with a 4-2 victory over Bournemouth, albeit the game was not without its challenges.

Slot is aware his side, complete with a £300m overhaul, is not yet the finished article, telling Sky Sports how pleased he was his players could recover a "difficult position" against the Cherries, needing late goals from Federico Chiesa and Mo Salah to snatch victory. New signing Hugo Ekitike also made a stir.

Liverpool would have naturally been among the favourites for silverware this season without this summer's extravagant spend. The champions are the Premier League's biggest spenders in this summer's transfer window as they look to build on Slot's prosperous first season.

Is it enough to fend off the competition, then, or are the club in the market for more? "No, I'm very happy with the squad we're having now," Slot says. "Very happy, as you could see, Friday night as well, that we could impact the game from the bench, as we did so many times last season.

"So, yeah, happy, but as always, if it's 10 days to go, I don't know how long the market is open, we will always look."

The obvious follow up comes next, given how the fixture computer has blessed us. Where does the club stand on Newcastle wantaway Alexander Isak?

And is there a chance - following an explosive statement from the striker, who feels his relationship with Newcastle is irreparable - that Liverpool might seek to profit?

"I think the way Hugo Ekitike started his career at Liverpool, we should talk about him and say how well he did," Slot continues, steering conversation away from the possibility of Isak joining before the window closes on September 1.

"It would be unfair to him to talk about other targets if they are actually there. And if they are there, we don't speak about them in public. But I think the main thing should be that we talk about how well Hugo has done until now."

Isak has dominated much of the build-up to Monday night's meeting between Liverpool and Newcastle, live on Sky Sports. And yet the Sweden international will not play any part in the game itself.

The Isak-shaped hole in Eddie Howe's squad poses a big problem with no resolution close. Howe himself called the situation "lose-lose" on Friday.

Is Slot glad his side - who have come in for some early-season criticism over defensive difficulties - won't have to face Isak at St James' Park?

"He scored against us in the League Cup final, and he scored against us in the away game [last season].

"So yeah, if they have him, he's a big, big, big threat, but like any other team in the Premier League, if one is injured or not there, it's not like the manager has to look at his bench and say, 'now I have no one to play anymore'.

"For them to play [Anthony] Gordon, [Anthony] Elanga and [Harvey] Barnes and still having [Jacob] Murphy on the bench like last time, maybe it changes this game, it tells you how much quality they still have available."

Slot is surely under more pressure than ever to deliver success in his second season at Anfield, against the backdrop of a first title since 2019/20 and the swath of new talent available to him.

Does the ongoing Isak saga add anything more to this next meeting? "The atmosphere was amazing last year [at St James' Park], and the intensity levels of their players were amazing, and there were no talks then. They fully deserved to win the League Cup final from us.

"So yeah, if they can even add intensity to those two games, that would be really special. Even if we would have been at our best, I would be far from sure we could have beaten that Newcastle team on that day, because they were outstanding.

"What I do know is that we need to be much better than we were. In the end of the season, it was harder and harder for us to win our game. I think we had to rely a few times on our set-pieces back then as well."

Newcastle have gone 17 Premier League matches without a win against Liverpool, dating back to December 2015 under Steve McClaren. How Howe would love to address that statistic. His job is infinitely harder without his star man.