Liverpool may have beaten the European champions and current Premier League title holders in the past seven days - but Arne Slot warned this week will be even tougher.
The Reds boss is keen to keep his league leaders on their toes ahead of trips to Newcastle and local rivals Everton. Slot’s side are nine points clear at the top of the Premier League after they beat Manchester City on Sunday.
While they’ve got one foot in the Champions League knockout stages following a home win over Real Madrid last week. Now on Wednesday they travel to Newcastle which is a happy hunting ground for the Reds as they’ve won four of their last six at St James’ Park with their last defeat there in 2015.
But Slot is wary of the fight from the Magpies who will be looking to take the Reds down a peg or two.
He said: “We have shown that at home we are very physically strong, but after two wins like this it is sometimes difficult to show up again and again and again in an away game.
“Newcastle won at home against Arsenal, at home against Chelsea and drew with Manchester City so maybe it is even more difficult to play Newcastle away than City or Real at home. I am not talking about quality. I am talking about how difficult it is to win at St James’ Park.
“Everyone really looked forward to Real Madrid and Man City and now we have had it and that can sometimes lead to feeling it was such a great experience that you want to enjoy it for a few extra days.
“But we don’t have that time. We immediately have to show up again in probably one of the most difficult away games that you can have in a season. One of them, definitely.”
That’s one of the differences the former Feyenoord boss is dealing with now he’s managing in England. No easy games.
He added: “Normally if you have beaten Ajax or PSV a game comes up that you can win. That is true. But I do remember last season when at Feyenoord we outplayed Lazio at home and everyone said that they can go to the quarter-finals of the Champions League and those kinds of things were said in the Dutch media.
“We then had to play FC Twente, who you could compare with Newcastle when it comes to the league table.
“We had a lot of difficulties because if you beat Real Madrid and City the teams you are then facing want to prove even more against you how good they are.
“You always have to be aware of that and then going to a stadium like that will help them as playing at Anfield helped us.”
Liverpool have won 18 of their 20 games so far this season with defeat against Nottingham Forest and a draw at Arsenal their only games without maximum points or progression in the Carabao Cup.
They’ve won their last seven in all competitions and it is all going so well for Slot since he replaced Jurgen Klopp. But will they face a blip at any point as they challenge on four fronts?
He said: “It doesn’t have to be inevitable but a normal season of every team, even City when winning it four times in a row, they have difficult spells.
“But we are not planning for this at all. I’m not thinking ‘How will I react then?’ Just one game at a time.”