Arne Slot believes it is too early to speak of his Liverpool side as title contenders after they ran out 2-1 winners at Wolves to go top of the Premier League.
Ibrahim Konate had given Slot’s men the lead on the stroke of half-time but the home side levelled soon after the restart through Rayan Ait-Nouri.
Moments later, Nathan Semedo bundled over Diogo Jota in the penalty area and Mohamed Salah made no mistake from the spot to continue his and Liverpool’s fine start to the season.
The Egyptian has now scored 10 winning goals in the competition from the spot, only bettered by Alan Shearer with 12 and Frank Lampard with 18.
Despite going top, Slot insisted it was too early to speak of his side as title contenders, with just six league games played.
He said: “It feels good, you want to be up there but it doesn’t tell me that much at the moment.
"If you look at Wolves they are down in the table but they played much better than that today. After 19 games, it’ll tell me something, but not after six."
Slot praised his opposite number Gary O’Neil for causing his side some problems early on, but once tactical adjustments were made, the Dutchman was pleased with the amount of control his side exerted.
He told Sky Sports: "I don't think we started well, but we have to give credit to Wolves and Gary O'Neil.
"They had a really good gameplan. We had some problems in the first 20 minutes, but afterwards we took control of the game.
"We were patient and kept circulating the ball and kept waiting for the right moment to bring the ball in."
Wolves’ poor run of form continues and they sit bottom of the league, with no wins to their name and just a solitary point from their first six games.
O’Neil was still proud of his players after a narrow defeat and is adamant his side have deserved more points from their opening matches than the table suggests.
"They went toe-to-toe with one of the biggest clubs in the country,” said O’Neil.
“I am gutted for the lads, with what they have given in the last six games, they deserve more points.
"The responsibility of the result... I accept that, but I also need to praise the lads for delivering performances against opposition like this.
"I know them well enough that they will feel disappointed for a day, then they will be ready to go again."
The 41-year-old, who joined the club on the eve of the 2023-24 season, admits he has no control over whether he will continue as head coach.
"I can't control other people's belief in me. All I can do is the best I can do," he said.
Girona boss Michel seeking consistency after poor start
Michel wants to see Girona turn in more performances of the level they showed against Rayo Vallecano in midweek, despite the fact they drew that game 0-0.
Winless in four consecutive games in all competitions, last season's surprise LaLiga challengers Girona dominated proceedings on Wednesday with 70% possession, accumulating 2.0 expected goals (xG).
Having gone toe-to-toe with giants Real Madrid and Barcelona for much of last campaign before eventually finishing third, Girona now sit 12th in the LaLiga standings on eight points from seven matches.
They face Celta Vigo on Sunday, and ahead of that match, Michel said: "We shouldn't compare ourselves to last year because we are a different team.
"I really liked the team against Rayo, and if we had that level and continuity before against Valencia (a 2-0 loss) and Barcelona (a 4-1 defeat), I would be very happy.
"Rayo didn't score against us, they were defending the whole game and that's not easy to achieve. I'm convinced that we need to give continuity to the idea we had the other day, only then will we be close to winning more games."
Girona sold LaLiga's top scorer from last season, Artem Dovbyk, to Roma over the summer, but Michel is not concerned by a lack of goalscoring prowess from his side.
"We have the capacity to finish more plays and we have to find the timing to do it now. This is our concern and the training sessions are going in that direction," he added.
The Spaniard was full of praise for Celta, who are 10th in LaLiga with one more point than Girona.
"They have started the league well," Michel said. "They are the best team in terms of ball circulation, and they do things very well.
"They are a team that hurts you with the ball and that's why we have to impose our game, make good possessions and arrive well in the opponent's half and in the opponent's goal."
Rodgers salutes Celtic's 'Champions League mentality' in St. Johnstone rout
Brendan Rodgers paid tribute to Celtic's "Champions League mentality" in their 6-0 rout of St. Johnstone at McDiarmid Park.
Kyogo Furuhashi scored twice, while Paulo Bernardo, Callum McGregor, Daizen Maeda and Adam Idah were also on target for the Hoops, who warmed up for their midweek European trip to Borussia Dortmund in emphatic fashion.
The dominant victory moved Celtic back to the top of the Scottish Premiership table - ahead of Aberdeen on goal difference - as they continued their perfect start to the season, with a sixth win in as many games.
And Rodgers was pleased by the character his players demonstrated.
"I thought this was an opportunity to show our mentality," he told Premier Sports. "All the noise has been about Dortmund, but I wanted a Champions League mentality here, and I thought the boys controlled the game.
"We wanted to keep our rhythm going. You see some of the guys coming in this evening, like Valle coming in at left-back, showing his composure.
"Most were looking at it as a tick-box before Dortmund, but for me, it was to show their mentality. Everyone will be flying on Tuesday night, but I want to see how they do when they’re here, or other grounds. It’s a case of just focusing in on that.
"I thought the variety of our game was very good; everything you'd want from your team."
Looking ahead to Tuesday's clash with Bundesliga giants Dortmund, he added: "[They] are a good team with top players, so we can't get away from that.
"OK, they've lost one or two [players] from last year, but I always say we make sure we press, make sure we attack. It's a tough game, but we'll look forward to it."
Osasuna 4-2 Barcelona: Budimir brace condemns LaLiga leaders to first defeat
Barcelona suffered their first LaLiga defeat of the season after going down 4-2 against Osasuna at Estadio El Sadar.
Ante Budimir scored twice, while Bryan Zaragoza and substitute Abel Bretones were also on target for the hosts, who claimed their first league win over the Blaugrana in nine attempts.
Osasuna were unbeaten in their six previous home league games and took an 18th-minute lead when Budimir nodded home from Zaragoza's cross.
The latter, who is on loan from Bayern Munich, doubled the advantage 10 minutes later when he rounded off a swift counter.
Pau Victor halved the deficit eight minutes after the restart, but Budimir's 72nd-minute penalty put the hosts back in control, before Bretones made it 4-1 with seven minutes remaining.
Lamine Yamal climbed off the bench to reduce Barca's arrears, but it was a consolation for Hansi Flick's side, who dropped their first points this term.
Data Debrief: Flick misses out on matching Martino
Flick was aiming to become only the second Barca manager after Gerardo Martino in 2013-14 to oversee eight straight victories at the start of a LaLiga season.
However, he and the visitors were denied by their inspired hosts, who have now recorded four successive home league wins for the first time since September 2011.
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