Ahead of going to Brentford on Saturday, Slot was asked about Arsenal moving within four points of their leadership.
He said, "I didn't even know Arsenal are playing later than us, I look at the opponent for us. If this is going to be the resistance we have every week then this is a harder league than Holland, is what I thought after my first home game. They created chances against Man City and their manager has done a great job, they have worked together for a long time. I have no other focus like when Arsenal or Chelsea plays or whoever.
"I don't think we are as much as the media are thinking about the table, we are trying to get the best out of players, the staff and the players. These players know how long this season is and how good they have to be to win something, which is not something that happens every week. So we focus on as good session today and a good game tomorrow and only way to get a result is to work on best possible basis every day."
Asked about captain Virgil van Dijk's quip of Liverpool being in "crisis", Slot also stated: "This season shows the strength of PL, even yesterday was quite a surprise to see Southampton go toe to toe with Man Utd for so long, so it's harder to win in second half of the season than first, teams are longer together, others bring players in and teams are fighting for Europe, titles, to stay in the league; 2nd half of league always more difficult. Brentford is an example of ateam who were already strong in first half. A very good team for a few years now. They have shown that."
On the workload of his players, Slot admits it is simply the reality of the Premier League.
"If I remember, this has been the situation since we started against Brentford, that was maybe the only week we didn't have a double programme, maybe you say there are int'l breaks, which is true but no time off for players. A break in March but I know a bit better that the Dutch play Spain, so Cody, Ryan, Virgil have a tough game and you say they have a break.
"So this is the hardest league to play in. So we prepare them for this in pre-season. There are some breaks for a player like Virgil, so this is how we try to manage but the physical output is even higher than first half so they are ready for this programme. They face resistance so it's not about excuses, it's always about the quality of players you face."
On the form of his strikers, Slot insists he was happy with what he was seeing from Darwin Nunez.
He said, "It's your perception, not mine that he is struggling for confidence. He was involved in glals against Accrington and Fulham and he scored v Southampton. So for me it's the life of a striker, sometimes you score, sometimes you don't and he hasn't started every week. We score every game except for Spurs in the Cup, so that tells me we have goals in our team. Darwin will score like he has done already. I don't see him struggling that much as you see it."
On Cody Gakpo, Slot also stated: "I agree that Cody is in a good place, so sometimes we agree. Diaz has done well as a 9 and even before the break, it was a very good performance and afterwards Diaz played there 3 more games, United, Spurs, Forest - we have created chances as a team and that's important. I am happy if we play Diaz if we play him as a 9 or 11. Sometimes Mo scores. Last three games he's only scored a penalty. In general we score a lot of goals and create a lot of chances."
And on facing Brentford, Slot was happy to lay out their strengths.
"Some teams you play, they have 1 or 2 big strengths, Brentford press high, man v man, low block if needed, can score goals in all different ways, they score in the first seconds, so there is a lot to prepare for. Now I have to take time for this game to show them all what Brentford's strengths are, they can play 5 or 4 at the back, it's a team that has worked for years with the same manager already, he has 2 formations and that is a situation when you work longer with them."