Arne Slot said Liverpool showed the mentality of champions as they moved a step closer to Premier League glory with a 2-0 win over Newcastle on Wednesday night.
Goals in each half from Dominik Szoboszlai and Alexis Mac Allister at Anfield took them 13 points clear at the top of the table following victory in this rehearsal for the League Cup final on March 16.
The Merseysiders had looked edgy in games against Everton, Wolves and Aston Villa earlier this month, but have since recorded confident wins over Manchester City and now the Magpies.
Manager Slot said: “I think what impressed me most was the mental strength in both games because after Everton and Wolves, maybe after Villa a bit, people started to question us a bit.
“Normally when you get questions you see extra work rate, that is normal. But if you get a lot of compliments, eight out of 10 people get complacent. Only the ones that want to achieve something don’t, and that mentality of the two against 10 we saw tonight.
“They just found an extra gear to work even harder. We weren’t perfect but the mentality was great again, as was the squad performance – not just the team performance.”
Liverpool’s advantage has increased from seven points in the past week, thanks to the dropping of five points by closest challengers Arsenal in their last two games.
Yet even with just 10 games remaining, Slot is not thinking about the title just yet and is already looking ahead to next week’s Champions League clash against Paris Saint-Germain.
The Dutchman said: “I don’t know (about the title) because I don’t think that way. I think about PSG already and I watched them against City. I am impressed by the quality they have, they are on a similar run as we are, having hardly lost any games for a long time.
“That is my main focus. I’ll forget about the Premier League and the table for now, until the moment we’ve played PSG. Then I’ll think about the Premier League again and Southampton.”
When can Liverpool clinch the Premier League title?
Football data firm Opta say it is now a 98.7 per cent probability that Liverpool will win the title, with Arsenal on 1.3 per cent.
Liverpool are 13 points clear of the Gunners with 10 games to go – although Mikel Arteta's side have a game in hand. If they maintain a 13-point lead then that will give them the title with four games to spare – after their game against Tottenham at Anfield on April 26.
But if the Gunners win their game in hand – and match Liverpool's other results then Liverpool could seal the title against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on May 3.
Because of their progress to the Champions League last 16, the League Cup final against Newcastle and an international break, Liverpool only play one league game in March.
The earliest they could mathematically seal the title would be in the first week of April. If they won their next three games and Arsenal lost their next four matches, it could be over as early as April 5.
'We will be back': Guardiola to rebuild Man City
Pep Guardiola insisted Manchester City will be a Premier League force again after Erling Haaland secured a 1-0 win at Tottenham Hotspur on Wednesday.
Haaland's goal in the 12th minute boosted City's bid to qualify for next season's Champions League as they moved into fourth place.
Battling to finish in the top four is a big step down for City after they won the last four Premier League titles to make it six in seven seasons for Guardiola.
With City also out of the Champions League following their play-off loss to Real Madrid, Guardiola has only the FA Cup left to play for this season.
But in the longer-term, the Spaniard remains convinced City can be restored to their former glory despite a team ageing in key positions and lacking Premier League experience in others.
“Never will be this season the old City,” Guardiola said. “Old City were too good, but we will be back.
“The game, it was open second half because we didn't close the first. In this stadium always they have 20 to 25 minutes and second half we suffered.
“It's happened many times this season that we give away an unbelievable amount of goals and up front there are many games, like Champions League at Sporting we should be 1-3 or 1-4 in the first half and we lost 4-1. Many times it happens and today fortunately it finished good.”
Gunners title bid going out with a whimper
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta had said his side would concede the title “over my dead body”.
The Gunners have a game in hand on Liverpool, but Arteta may have to accept Wednesday's 0-0 draw at Nottingham Forest means their attempt to win a first title since 2004 is over.
The shot-shy Gunners, playing without a recognised striker, managed just one effort on target at the City Ground, with Riccardo Calafiori hitting the post in the first half.
“Today we dropped two points which is very painful again and we have to step up,” Arteta said.
Third-placed Forest's surprise challenge for Champions League qualification has also hit the rocks after just one win from their last five matches.
Elsewhere, Harry Maguire earned Manchester United a hard-fought 3-2 win at Old Trafford, easing Patrick Dorgu's embarrassment after his part in a calamitous Ipswich opener was compounded by a first-half red card.
Maguire's second-half header ended United's three-match winless run in the league and lifted a little of the gloom after Monday's announcement of a second round of redundancies at the club.
Ruben Amorim secured just his fifth league win as United boss despite a disastrous mix up between Dorgu and keeper Andre Onana that gifted Jaden Philogene an early goal.
Sam Morsy's own goal and a Matthijs de Ligt effort had put United ahead before Dorgu's night got worse, with the 20-year-old's high challenge on Omari Hutchinson earning a red card following a VAR review.
Philogene's cross snuck home in first-half stoppage time, but Maguire headed in from a Bruno Fernandes corner to dent third-bottom Ipswich's survival hopes.
Meanwhile, Jake O'Brien's first Everton goal stretched their unbeaten run to seven league matches after a 1-1 draw at Brentford. David Moyes has led his team 15 points clear of relegation trouble since his appointment last month.
