Press conference'Does it bring a challenge?' - Arne Slot discusses Liverpool's back-to-back visits to Molineux
The Reds travel to Molineux in the Premier League on Tuesday night and then visit Wolves’ home again for an Emirates FA Cup fifth-round tie on Friday evening.
During Monday morning’s press conference to preview the first match, Slot was asked what challenges will arise from an unusual fixture schedule.
The head coach replied: “It’s not unusual that we play three games in seven days for us. That’s probably the fourth or fifth time this season that we have to do this.
“Does it bring a challenge? Maybe for the second game a little bit more because then you know even better what to expect, but that I also like mainly.
“I also like [it] in the Champions League because the first time you play each other, mainly in the Champions League you don’t play each other that much so it’s a bit new but the second time you can prepare your team even better. Especially if the team you face does the same again.
“But now, being in the Premier League, we played them [Wolves] already once [and] you see a lot of games of them because they play against teams that we are facing as well.
“You know each other that well that I don’t see that much difference between playing each other twice in three days or that there’s a longer period in between.”
Both games are, of course, important in their own right, with Liverpool seeking to strengthen their push for Champions League qualification on Tuesday before then attempting to reach the quarter-finals of the FA Cup 72 hours later.
Slot was quizzed on how he will ensure that his players are fully concentrated on both fronts and said: “I don't think we’re in a position to lose focus. No-one is at this period of time, everyone is fighting for something, and we are.
“We have to fight really hard in the league to get, in the end, what we want now, and that’s to qualify for the Champions League and there’s an FA Cup to play for. So, the focus will definitely be there.
“The only difference indeed is between playing each other in such short notice is that it’s twice on their ground, where usually when you play in Europe you once have a home and an away game.
“But it is the situation we are facing now and maybe the only person where it’s helpful for is our analysts and myself, because usually you watch a lot of games from the opponent.
“Now, we’ve done this before this one but before the next one we probably focus mainly on one game and that’s the one of tomorrow. So it saves me a bit of time, maybe, in the upcoming days.”