Soccer Football - Premier League - Liverpool v Leeds United - Anfield, Liverpool, Britain - January 1, 2026 Liverpool manager Arne Slot applauds fans after the match REUTERS/Phil Noble
Jan 2 (Reuters) - Liverpool manager Arne Slot admitted his side needs "a bit of magic" to unlock tight games as the reigning Premier League champions sit fourth at the season's halfway point, 12 points behind leaders Arsenal.
Despite a seven-game unbeaten run in the league which steadied the ship after six losses in seven games prior, Slot painted a picture of grinding results rather than free-flowing football ahead of Sunday's trip to Fulham.
"Every single game we play, it is hard work. It is two teams quite close to each other," Slot told reporters.
"We are mainly the team that are probably better than the other team but not enough. We are constantly within this 20% difference and if you are inside this 20% difference then going to the floor or not means a lot for the result.
"I will keep pushing and the players will keep pushing to get to a situation where we are more than that 20%, we can make the difference bigger and then hopefully we are finding a moment when we can fly through the season."
TWO TEAMS IN TITLE RACE, SAYS SLOT
Slot also said Liverpool cannot be considered title contenders at the moment with Arsenal and Manchester City -- separated by four points -- too far ahead whileAston Villa have also fallen by the wayside after their defeat against the league leaders.
"Realistically, I think there are two teams... with Villa being really close to them but because Arsenal won against Villa they created a bit of a gap (six points) towards Villa as well," Slot said.
"Realistically, those two teams are quite far away from us and we should not look at those two at this moment in time."
While Liverpool have tightened up defensively, Slot highlighted ongoing struggles in attack despite dominating possession.
"It is clear and obvious we find it quite hard to generate enough chances for all the ball possession we have and that's not new for us this season," he said.
"Sometimes you need a bit of magic to unlock a game or a set-piece. If that happens, then all of a sudden everything looks much nicer, but that is not our season until now."
Slot expects a more open encounter against Marco Silva's Fulham, who drew with Crystal Palace on Thursday and sit 11th in the table.
"I expect a different game against Fulham... When we've played them and what I've seen from them, and they play a home game, so I think they will try to attack a lot and want to have the ball a lot," he said.
"At least that is how I know their manager, so it probably will be a much more open game. So we have to show in games like that we don't concede a lot as well."
(Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru; editing by Pritha Sarkar)
