Slot, understandably, was cautious.
“In every other league, having a lead like would be very comfortable, but not in this league,” he said. “There is a challenge in every game. We even saw Plymouth Argyle challenging us in the FA Cup.
“The fans can sing what they want but we know how hard we have to work. Someone asked me after we drew at Aston Villa whether we were having a dip. I never believed that and I’m not going to say anything now.”
Seemingly insurmountable leads have been surrendered at the top of the Premier League in the past, but very few as big as the one Liverpool now hold. Not at this stage of the season.
The only one bearing any comparison was during the 1997-98 campaign, when Manchester United were 11 points clear of Arsenal on 2 March and were reeled in.
However, they had already lost five games at that point and had proved they were far from infallible. Liverpool have that Forest defeat as the only blemish on their league record.
And the wonderful Arsenal side under Arsene Wenger that chased United down were a very different proposition to the current crop under Mikel Arteta, who are destined to be the title race’s nearly men again.
Guardiola declined the opportunity to crown Liverpool champions, but effectively answered the question with two more questions: “How many points are they away from Arsenal? How many games have they lost?”
Say no more.
He made a point of warmly congratulating Slot at the final whistle before seeking out every Liverpool player for a handshake. Guardiola knows a title-winning side when he sees it, and he was looking at one right here.
Speaking to BBC Sport, former England goalkeeper and Match of the Day pundit Joe Hart said “there’s no way back” for Arsenal in the title race.
“They can do what they want, they can win every game from here, but I still don’t think it will be enough,” he added.
