Liverpool's fixtures are about to get tougher - but Arne Slot's Premier League leaders should relish rather than dread difficult run

Liverpool expert David Lynch has told Sports Mole that Arne Slot's side should be licking their lips at their upcoming fixture schedule.

The Reds currently sit top of the Premier League table after seven games, having won six and lost one of their league outings under their new manager.

Indeed, Slot's start as Liverpool boss ranks as the best in the club's illustrious history, having picked up maximum points in nine of his first 10 games across all competitions.

Question marks do still remain over whether the Merseysiders can challenge the likes of Manchester City and Arsenal throughout the whole Premier League season, though, with Slot's side having been handed a relatively kind start to the season in terms of fixtures.

All six of Liverpool's league wins have come against teams in the bottom half of the table, while their solitary defeat came against the only top-half team they have faced so far - a shock 1-0 home loss to a Nottingham Forest side that currently sits 10th.

The 19-time English champions see their fixture schedule get a lot tougher on paper from hereon in, as they face the rest of the current top eight in their next 10 league games between now and Christmas, as well as a Merseyside derby against Everton.

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That run begins on Sunday when Liverpool welcome fourth-placed Chelsea to Anfield, after which they face successive league matches against third-placed Arsenal, sixth-placed Brighton & Hove Albion and fifth-placed Aston Villa before the next international break.

A trip to struggling Southampton offers some respite from the top-10 sequence, but they then have back-to-back games against Real Madrid and Manchester City, before facing seventh-placed Newcastle United, Merseyside rivals Everton, eighth-placed Fulham and ninth-placed Tottenham Hotspur.

In addition to the Real Madrid showdown, Champions League matches against RB Leipzig, Bayer Leverkusen and Girona are also to come in that period, as well as at least one EFL Cup game - away to Brighton.

While it looks like a daunting schedule, David Lynch and Sports Mole editor Barney Corkhill discussed whether it is a run that could end up bringing the best out of Slot's Liverpool, as opposed to exposing weaknesses which have hitherto largely gone unpunished.

Hit play on the video above to listen to the discussion.

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