Saturday night’s result at Brentford was not a respectable loss to a title rival, but a comprehensive undoing by a well-drilled side, marking the reigning Premier League champions’ fourth consecutive league defeat – a nadir the club hasn’t seen in years.
What is happening to Arne Slot’s team? The initial shine of the new era has well and truly worn off, replaced by a worrying tarnish. The once-vaunted intensity is fleeting, the defensive solidity has crumbled, and a team that previously dominated games now looks disjointed and brittle, particularly when dealing with the kind of rudimentary aerial threat Brentford deployed so effectively. The stats are grim: four Premier League defeats in a row, a defence that struggles to hold a line, and a number of costly individual errors that have directly led to goals.
The problems are multi-faceted. Is it a tactical imbalance brought on by the summer’s aggressive recruitment, leaving the midfield exposed? Or is the current malaise one of mentality, with key players struggling for form? Whatever the cause, the current results suggest a squad whose collective confidence has been shot. They are a team defined by moments of individual brilliance, rather than the coherent, irresistible collective that swept all before them last season.
In the midst of this turmoil, the focus now shifts, mercifully, away from the league, to the Carabao Cup Fourth Round tie against Crystal Palace on Wednesday night at Anfield. For the beleaguered Reds, this fixture offers a crucial psychological test. A cup competition against a familiar Premier League foe – one they have already been beaten by this season – is an opportunity to stop the rot and inject some much-needed positive momentum.
The Carabao Cup provides a chance for Slot to rotate, refresh, and perhaps simplify the task for his players. It’s about finding a win, any win, to restore belief before the colossal Champions League clash with Real Madrid at Anfield next week. A victory against Palace isn’t just about progression; it’s about a necessary emotional release and proof that this side still knows how to win. Another defeat, however, and the “noise” surrounding the club and in the media will become an unbearable roar. The stakes on Wednesday night are far higher than a mere place in the quarter-finals suggests.
