Andoni Iraola says ‘winning helps’ but Liverpool must ‘keep getting better’

Andoni Iraola is happy for Liverpool fans to start dreaming of a Premier League title challenge ahead of Sunday’s clash with champions Arsenal, but insisted it is too early for him to start looking at the table.

Victory at Anfield would see Liverpool move to within three points of the Gunners as they look to continue a five-match winning run in all competitions, but Iraola said his focus remains on improvements in performances early in his reign.

“It is still October,” Iraola said. “We have to take one game at a time and I always say the reference is more or less when we’ve played against each other once so halfway through the season. That’s when you can start to look at the standings.

“Right now, we are in a position where we need to improve and keep getting better.”

But when asked if he welcomed the growing optimism amongst Liverpool supporters, Iraola added: “For fans, it is good if they have expectations or they think we can win.”

Arsenal moved level with Manchester City at the top of the table last weekend with a 2-0 win over Everton, but were then on the wrong end of a huge cup upset in midweek, dumped out of the Carabao Cup when they were beaten on penalties by League Two Fleetwood.

“We know Arsenal and how good they are,” Iraola said. “They have very good players, working a lot in synchronicity and we have to be ready for that challenge.

“It’s going to be a demanding game but we also trust our players, trust ourselves and in the good atmosphere we will for sure have on Sunday. I hope we will be at level to win this game.”

Liverpool’s recent run suggests Iraola’s players are getting to grips with the demands of their manager, who replaced Arne Slot in the summer.

“Winning helps a lot,” he said. “It is five wins (in a row) but just two are in a league so if we are talking about the league we still need more wins to recover points.

“But definitely we know what we want in terms of we have to improve a lot of things. But, if you can do this process while you are getting results, it is always nice.”

Sunday will be Liverpool’s fourth consecutive home game, coming after a 4-3 Champions League win over Villarreal, a 2-0 success over Brighton and Wednesday’s penalty shoot-out success over Chelsea in the Carabao Cup.

After that match, Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk spoke about the energy coming back to Anfield.

“It’s not just winning,” Iraola said. “At Anfield everyone feels when the team goes for it, when everyone is giving everything, when everyone is trying trying his best, our supporters will be there to help the team.

“Even when we’ve started losing in some of the last games they have been there and have helped massively. The other day against Chelsea, I thought the atmosphere was really, really good.

“It’s nice to recover and feel these things at home as we have a big advantage over other teams because this atmosphere we can create is special.”