Arne Slot took a bit of a “mental break” during the latest round of internationals before returning to Liverpool on Tuesday.

He could return home and try to switch off in the knowledge he had led his side to the top of the Premier League with six wins from their opening seven top-flight games after replacing Jurgen Klopp in the summer.

However, while Slot has consistently highlighted that his side have been helped by a favourable fixture list, he knows things are about to get a lot tougher.

Liverpool host Chelsea on Sunday and have league games against Arsenal, Brighton and Aston Villa before another international break in mid-November.

In that time, they will also play Brighton in the Carabao Cup as well as RB Leipzig and Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League during a run which will be a voyage of discovery for Slot and his side.

“We have to judge us as a team after this spell of games,” said the Dutchman. “Then we know better how we act and how we perform if we play tough Champions League games and tough league games.”

On the contracts front, if Liverpool fans are growing increasingly nervous about the deals of Trent Alexander-Arnold, Virgil van Dijk, and Mohamed Salah running out next summer, then Slot did not have much in the way of calming those concerns.

He did say the trio must be doing well if people want them to extend their contracts but he had no update on the situation.