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• Slot believes Liverpool have 'many challenges to come' in Premier League title race

  Arne Slot envisages "many challenges to come" in Liverpool's Premier League title race, despite his side moving five points clear at the top of the table with victory on Saturday.

  The Reds capitalised on Manchester City's slip at Brighton by taking all three points in a 2-0 win over Aston Villa to establish breathing space at the summit.

  Darwin Nunez gave the hosts the lead at Anfield as he capitalised after a quick counter, before Mohamed Salah did the same six minutes from time to secure all three points.

  While Slot was pleased by the outcome, he is aware the cushion at the top does not guarantee a smooth run in their title challenge.

  "It wasn't easy, like most of our games have been now," he told TNT Sport. "Aston Villa were maybe not as aggressive as we thought they would be.

  "We were patient. One thing they are very good at is set-pieces. In general, we had control over the game and scored from two counter-attacks, which is maybe not what we would expect.

  "If I look at the games that are ahead, they are tough. It will be a tough season in general. Margins are small, we have a margin, but it is small. [There are] many challenges to come for us."

  Slot has got off to a fine start since succeeding Jurgen Klopp as manager at the start of the season, as he became just the fourth manager to win as many as nine of his first 11 Premier League games in charge, after John Gregory, Guus Hiddink, and Carlo Ancelotti.

  Liverpool now have 28 points in the league. They have only previously equalled this total once after 11 games, in their title-winning season of 2019-20 (31). 

  Equally, no manager has ever won more points from their first 11 games in the competition than Slot. The Dutchman is not concerned by totals or margins, however, with his focus remaining on the philosophy he wants to instil at Anfield.

  "As a manager, if you come into a new club, you don't think about how many points after how many games," he told BBC Match of the Day. "You think about changing the style or keeping it as it was.

  "To change the style, you have to do a lot of things on the training ground and in meetings. The only thing I have thought about is how to implement the playing style, and how to make sure the players keep working as hard as they can."

• Emery demands improvement from Aston Villa

  Unai Emery urged his side to “keep improving” after Saturday's 2-0 defeat at the hands of Premier League leaders Liverpool at Anfield.

  Aston Villa have now lost four successive games in all competitions for the first time since April 2022.

  They have also lost consecutive league matches for the first time since May 2023, after breakaway goals from Darwin Nunez and Mohamed Salah sent Arne Slot's team five points clear at the top of the standings.

  Emery was pragmatic in defeat but insisted his side need to up their game if they are to match the levels they set last season.

  "We have to keep improving, recover some players who have just come back after long injuries. Some players are not in the same performance level as last year but today they were a bit better," he told TNT Sports.

  "This year a lot of players have come back from long injuries. We have to try to keep the same positive attitude and mentality and try to accept the results that we have had this week.

  "The league is tight, there are a lot of teams performing very well and we have to accept that we need to improve. We are under our level from last year a little bit but I am still confident."

  Villa have recently seen the return of Tyrone Mings from a long-term injury, but there was further concern for Emery when Jacob Ramsey sustained an apparent hamstring issue late in the first half.

  The Villans did have their chances at Anfield, with Amadou Onana and Diego Carlos forcing good saves out of Caoimhin Kelleher.

  Indeed, Villa posted 1.5 expected goals (xG), compared to Liverpool's 2.02.

  "Liverpool dominated at times but they did not have a lot of clear chances to score," reflected Emery.

  "We did our work and we had the chances to score in the first half, in the second half, and we played more or less in the way I wanted."

  Villa took 12 shots during the match, only two less than Liverpool (14), with an equal number coming from inside the box (nine each).

  They also had shouts for a penalty prior to Liverpool's second goal when Pau Torres went down after he had his shirt pulled in the box, but their appeals were waved away.

  "We have to try to be consistent in how we are building and responding. We have to compete and build a team, but we played the match we planned," Emery said, as reported by the Premier League's official website.
  
  "We had chances to score, we had one penalty, maybe a potential penalty, for me, it's clear. With VAR, it was not but I have to accept the decision."

  Emery also feels Villa lost to a team that are clear title contenders.

  "They started better than us, they are contenders to win the title, but I think you have to try to get our way, and we are in this process," he said. "I am positive."

• Angers 2-4 Paris Saint-Germain: Lee and Barcola bag braces as Enrique's side restore six-point lead

  Paris Saint-Germain restored their six-point lead at the Ligue 1 summit with a 4-2 victory over Angers.

  Luis Enrique's side did the damage in the first half at Stade Raymond Kopa, with Lee Kang-In and Bradley Barcola both scoring twice to extend their unbeaten start to the season.

  PSG broke through in the 17th minute through Lee, who doubled his and the visitors' tally when he turned in Marco Asensio's low cross three minutes later.

  Asensio was the provider again as the Ligue 1 leaders made it 3-0 just after the hour mark, with his centre diverted in by Barcola.

  The latter grabbed his second just before half-time when he headed in from Lee's cross.

  Angers made the scoreline more respectable in stoppage time, with Esteban Lepaul and Emmanuel Biumla halving the deficit for the hosts.

  Data Debrief: PSG make it 30 unbeaten on the road

  Now unbeaten in 30 away Ligue 1 matches, PSG are the first team in the top five European leagues to reach that mark since Napoli in 2018.

  Lee scored his first brace for the club, while Asensio assisted two goals in the same league match for the first time since doing so for Espanyol against Real Betis in October 2015 (three).

  Although, it was not all plain sailing for PSG, who conceded two goals in second-half stoppage time for only the second time in their history (also against Barcelona in the 2016-17 Champions League).

  As for Angers, they have become the first team in Ligue 1 history to lose 15 successive matches against the same opponent.