Press conferenceArne Slot's Aston Villa v Liverpool preview: 'This will always be a difficult game'
Liverpool head to Villa Park on Friday night for their final fixture on the road this season.
Unai Emery's men sit one place below the Reds in the Premier League table in fifth, level on points but behind on goal difference, and are participating in the Europa League final next week.
The winner of this 8pm BST showdown in the Midlands confirms a top-five finish in the division and therefore Champions League qualification for 2026-27.
"They [Villa] played Sunday, I think, so now we play on Friday, so I don't see being tired as a reason," Slot said at his pre-match press conference.
"I think one of the reasons why they are in the final of the Europa League and doing so well in the Premier League is because they have a big squad with many, many very good players and a lot of players that are of the same level, same high level.
"If you don't have that, you're not able to go all the way to the final in the Europa League and do so well in the Premier League.
"And the good thing for them is that, at the moment, they have one or two injuries but not so many.
"So, I think they are completely ready to go into Friday to go into Wednesday and then go into Sunday."
Slot admitted Liverpool's record on their travels in 2025-26 is below the standards expected.
They have won seven of their 18 away league matches and suffered defeat in eight of them.
The head coach said: "That's one of the reasons why we're in the position we are in, and what I mean with that is we wanted to be higher or doing better this season. But we've dropped far too many points in away games.
"And as I said, that's maybe always happening in the end of the season, you constantly feel you are telling everyone the same things. But dropping points in away games has mainly happened after playing in Europe, in games where usually Liverpool is able to win.
"Now Villa away doesn't matter if you play it after a game in Europe or after a week of rest, because this will always be a difficult game.
"But we've dropped points in away games against teams where we usually don't drop points and that has this season happened far too many times after playing in Europe.
"And that's one of the reasons why we have not qualified yet for the Champions League."
On how the team can improve their away fortunes, Slot continued: "First of all, the first challenge is to be fitter and more ready to play three days or sometimes two days after we've played in Europe. I think we've shown this season that we've progressed in that, so that's already helpful.
"Second of all, indeed, we've had more than a few times in away games, not a good starting position, but after 70 or 80 minutes we were in a good place. But maybe that goes hand in hand.
"We've also dropped points quite a lot in the last phase of a game, which maybe also has to do with the amount of games we have to play. That's not different to any other team but it's been done by mainly the same players.
"I think the number one and the number two this season in terms of playing minutes all around the world, number one is Virgil van Dijk and number two is Dominik Szoboszlai. And in the top 15, top 20, there are five or six players of us.
"So, that's also why I have so much respect for these players, that they are in a difficult season – physically and mentally – and they have constantly been available, and that's been mainly the same players."