Liverpool have endured a shocking start to their Premier League title defence, which will cause concerns
Liverpool spent close to £450m over the summer on new additions, including the likes of Alexander Isak, Hugo Ekitike and Florian Wirtz.
So far, Arne Slot has struggled to get all his new signings to gel, which has left the Reds trailing Arsenal by seven points and sitting in seventh place.
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The Merseyside club have now lost each of their last four Premier League fixtures, which will raise alarm bells as to where they could end up this season.
However, TBR Football’s head of football finance, Adam Williams, and Kieran Maguire from Beyond The Back Four podcast have explained why missing out on the Champions League football wouldn’t cause complete financial chaos at Anfield.
Photo by Danielle Parhizkaran/The Boston Globe via Getty ImagesFSG have Liverpool well-equipped to cover Arne Slot’s team’s poor form
Liverpool are well-equipped to deal with a season not playing Champions League football, thanks to FSG’s tightly run ship, according to Maguire.
The Reds’ American owners have set up the club to ensure there is a strong stream of cash coming in through matchday and commercial income.
In the last financial year, Liverpool earned £410m from matchday and commercial income, which is the amount they are more or less guaranteed even before Premier League and Champions League prize money.
Liverpool revenue projections
Credit: Adam Williams/TBR Football/GRV Media
Therefore, the Merseyside club have a ‘lot of leeway’ in the event of missing out on the money from participating in the Champions League.
Explaining the situation on Beyond The Back Four, Maguire claimed: “They’ve got an awful lot of leeway, Liverpool, because FSG run quite a conservative ship, so that they’ve not incurred huge losses.
“So one year out of the Champions League is something which they can deal with easily, two years is imperfect, if it gets to three, then you’ve got a problem, but I think we’re a long way off that.
“The recent expansion of Anfield, the new deal with Adidas, I suspect there will be a renewal of the deal with Standard Chartered as well. They will prime the pump very well as far as the money coming into the club is concerned.
“Champions League participation, it’s desirable but not essential, simply because Liverpool are such a well-run club on other issues that they can survive without it.
“It’s more of an issue for attracting players. Players want to be playing in the Champions League, especially off the back of a World Cup summer, whereby Champions League 2026/27 will be fascinating.”
Liverpool now face a tricky run of fixtures
Life doesn’t get much easier for Slot and Liverpool, who have a tough run of games ahead, including an away trip to the Etihad Stadium.
The Reds’ next Premier League game sees them host Aston Villa, before travelling to face Manchester City.
In between those two matches, Liverpool will welcome Real Madrid to Anfield in what could be a crucial decider of their fate in the competition.
Then there are games against Sean Dyche’s Nottingham Forest, an away trip to the London Stadium to take on West Ham and a very interesting fixture at home to a high-flying Sunderland.