Arne Slot admits he did not expect Liverpool to lead the Premier League table by such a long way in his debut season, as they prepare to face surprise package Bournemouth on Saturday.

Liverpool enter matchday 24 six points clear of second-placed Arsenal, with a game in hand to come against neighbours Everton.

The Opta supercomputer gives Liverpool a 91.8% chance of lifting the Premier League trophy for the second time this campaign, and Slot hopes this title tilt is the first of many.

In an interview for BBC Sport's Football Focus, Slot also outlined the reason behind Liverpool's lack of transfer activity in January.

"You don't think after 20 games we will have that many points and I wasn't expecting us to be top with the margin we have," Slot said.

"It's always nice to be up there, but nobody would have expected this. I'm the last person who would have expected [Manchester] City to have such a bad run.

"Liverpool should always be competing for a league title – we should always be competing for the Champions League. I'm hoping I will be able to keep the club at that level.

"I know people sometimes question this because they haven't seen us doing a lot in the transfer market in the summer and now in the winter as well. There's a reason for that – because we're happy with the squad."

Liverpool are unbeaten in 18 Premier League games, but upcoming opponents Bournemouth (unbeaten in 11) also account for one of the three longest ongoing unbeaten runs in the competition (Arsenal also 13 without defeat). 

Indeed, since the start of matchday 13 on November 29, no side has won more Premier League points than the Cherries (25), who crushed Nottingham Forest 5-0 last week.

Amid talk of a Champions League push, coach Andoni Iraola will continue to take things one step at a time.

"I think we are not going to change. We are taking it game by game," Iraola told BBC Sport. "We have a more difficult one against Liverpool next week. 

"We are on a good run while we're quite thin with numbers, so we'll regroup a little bit and try and recover at least one more player. I will not change the approach we are taking."

PLAYERS TO WATCH 

Bournemouth – Tyler Adams 

Among players to have played at least 500 minutes, Adams has made the most tackles (4.8) and interceptions per 90 minutes (2.7) of any Premier League player this season. 

Bournemouth have won 63% of the games he has started this term (five of eight) and scored 2.8 goals per game, compared to a 40% win rate and 1.3 goals per game when he does not start.

Liverpool – Mohamed Salah

Salah has scored 19 Premier League goals this season and one more strike will give him his fifth 20-goal season in the competition, something only Alan Shearer (seven times), Thierry Henry (five), Sergio Aguero (six) and Harry Kane (six) have achieved previously. 

He is also only one goal (176) behind Frank Lampard (177) in the all-time Premier League top scorers' chart.

MATCH PREDICTION – LIVERPOOL WIN

Bournemouth earned four points from their first four Premier League games against Liverpool (one win, one draw, two losses), but have since earned just three from their last 11 (one win, 10 defeats).

The Cherries also scored more than twice as many goals in the first four of those games (seven) than they have against the Reds in the last 11 (three).

Liverpool, meanwhile, have only failed to score in one of their 15 Premier League meetings with Bournemouth, netting at least three goals in 10 of these 15 games.

Bournemouth (who finished 12th last season), have already beaten Man City and Arsenal at the Vitality Stadium this season. 

The last Premier League team to win at home against each of the previous season's top three sides – having finished in the bottom half themselves – was Blackburn Rovers in 2005-06.

Liverpool, though, have only lost one of their last eight Premier League games against a side coming into the match on an unbeaten run of at least 11 games (four wins, three draws), going down 4-1 at home to City in February 2021.

While the Cherries should put up a fight, the league leaders are favourites for victory.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Bournemouth – 25.3%

Liverpool – 51.5%

Draw – 23.2%