Liverpool’s underwhelming 10-game unbeaten run in the Premier League has come crashing to a halt and the pressure is once again on head coach Arne Slot.
Before Saturday’s defeat at Bournemouth the situation didn’t look too bad on paper. If you look closely at the results in recent weeks, it reveals an underlying issue that appears to have been swept under the carpet.
Liverpool gained 18 points from a maximum 30 during their unbeaten run which started at the end of November. Four of those games were against newly-promoted sides and all four were drawn. You would expect the reigning Premier League champions to be winning those games, especially as three of them were at home.
Despite an impressive midweek Champions League win at Marseille, the defeat at Bournemouth was an event waiting to happen. It’s the third time Liverpool have now dropped points in injury time from a set-piece goal away from home. That’s not an acceptable stat and it was yet another unacceptable result.
This isn’t the form that wins the Premier League. This isn’t even the form that qualifies for Champions League next season and, with Manchester United now breathing down our necks, we run a serious risk of dropping down to Europa League qualification… if we’re lucky!
Something has to change. It seems we’ve been saying that for months, as far back as the end of September when the four-game losing streak started.
We’ve been served up a whole host of excuses for the poor form, from lack of fitness to bad refereeing decisions, from set-piece woes to low blocks, fixture congestions and more. The explanations during post-match press conferences are becoming more and more confusing.
To put it bluntly, Arne has to turn around our fortunes with immediate effect. If he can’t then someone else needs to. I fear it is going to be the latter.
