Alex Keble identifies what’s going wrong with the champions and how head coach could address it<\/p>\n
Liverpool have lost three Premier League matches in a row for the first time since February 2021, when they went on to finish the 2020\/21 season in third place. Football writer Alex Keble looks at five questions for Arne Slot to solve to get his side back to their best.<\/p>\n
It never ceases to amaze how quickly a team\u2019s fortunes can change in the Premier League.<\/p>\n
Liverpool<\/a> won each of their opening five matches of the 2025\/26 season, and with a reported \u00a3400million+ spent on new players, were tipped to run away with the title.<\/p>\n Three Premier League defeats later (or four including the UEFA Champions League), and the problems are mounting for Slot, who seems to be struggling to keep his team’s rhythm with the new signings.<\/p>\n He selected four of those new signings \u2014 Jeremie Frimpong<\/a>, Florian Wirtz<\/a>, Hugo Ekitike<\/a> and Alexander Isak<\/a> \u2014 in his line-up to face Eintracht Frankfurt on Wednesday night, with Milos Kerkez<\/a> moving to the bench.<\/p>\n Also named among the substitutes in Germany was Mohamed Salah<\/a>, in the wake of club legend Jamie Carragher questioning whether the talismanic forward should still be a guaranteed starter.<\/p>\n How can Slot improve the defence?<\/p>\n Liverpool have conceded 11 goals this season, a huge increase on this stage of last season, in terms of shots, goals, and, most importantly, set-pieces.<\/p>\n Liverpool’s first eight Matchweeks compared<\/p>\n Liverpool need to dramatically improve their set-piece defending; only West Ham United<\/a> (eight) and Nottingham Forest<\/a> (six) have conceded more set-piece goals.<\/p>\n Beyond that, Liverpool have looked too open, especially to counter-attacks. They have conceded two or more goals in eight of their 12 Premier League matches since the start of May, more than any other team.<\/p>\n A lot of pundits’ focus has been on the performances of Ibrahima Konate<\/a>. Former Liverpool striker Michael Owen<\/a> has been critical of \u201cone or two performances\u201d of the centre-back.<\/p>\n But the issue goes deeper than one player.<\/p>\n \u201cLiverpool are just not at the races at all defensively,” said the club’s former defender Carragher on Sky Sports. “Until they fix that, they can’t win the league.\u201d<\/p>\n Liverpool are currently conceding 1.4 goals per game, up from 1.1 last season.<\/p>\n Slot will know this has to improve, but it isn\u2019t an easy fix. It will come down to finding a better balance in various aspects of his team\u2019s performances.<\/p>\n Who does he select in the full-back positions?<\/p>\n Kerkez has struggled to settle at left-back since joining from AFC Bournemouth in the summer and has drawn criticism for numerous performances, most recently being described by Jamie Redknapp<\/a> on Sky Sports as playing \u201clike a nervous wreck\u201d in the defeat to Man Utd.<\/p>\n Kerkez, like Konate, has made two errors leading to an opposition shot this season.\u00a0Only two players in the Premier League have made more: Morgan Gibbs-White<\/a>, with three, and Joshua Acheampong<\/a>, on four.<\/p>\n On the other side, Frimpong, not helped by an early injury, has been in and out of the team as Slot switches between his new signing from Bayer Leverkusen, Conor Bradley<\/a>\u00a0and Dominik Szoboszlai<\/a> in the right-back role, with none holding the position down.<\/p>\n Marc Cucurella<\/a> even highlighted the point after Chelsea<\/a>\u2019s late win at Stamford Bridge came down Liverpool’s right.<\/p>\n \u201cI think they play one style of game where Salah is always ready to attack so we prepare for that,\u201d the left-back said. \u201cIf we do a good press, maybe we will have a lot of space in there. Today it works, and we won the game in this way.\u201d<\/p>\n Indeed, most Liverpool goals conceded have been from attacks down one side that led to chances at the back post, therefore involving both Liverpool full-backs.<\/p>\n Slot has various options to fix this. He could move Frimpong more permanently into the team to get him up to speed, which might in turn help support Salah, although that might increase their defensive vulnerability on that side.<\/p>\n The Liverpool head coach could also bring veteran Andy Robertson<\/a> into his Premier League line-up at left-back, just as he did against Eintracht Frankfurt in the Champions League. Slot may choose to restructure how the full-backs play, for example instructing the left-back to stay deep and form a back three as the right-back bombs on.<\/p>\n Does he keep starting Salah?<\/p>\n \u201cI think we’re at that stage now where Salah shouldn’t be a guaranteed starter every week,\u201d Carragher said on\u202fThe Gary Neville Podcast.\u202f “I do think this is a real conundrum for the manager going forward.\u201d<\/p>\n Salah has four goal involvements in eight games this season (two goals, two assists), but in a number of key metrics his numbers are way down from 2024\/25.<\/p>\n Salah’s PL attacking stats per 90 – last five seasons<\/p>\n Scroll across to see full table<\/p>\n He has now gone seven consecutive Premier League matches without scoring a non-penalty goal for the first time in his Liverpool career, and appears to be missing the support of Trent Alexander-Arnold<\/a> after his summer move to Real Madrid.<\/p>\n Some Liverpool supporters will argue Salah needs to play his way back into form, others may feel that Slot cannot afford to wait.<\/p>\n\n Statistic<\/td>\n 2024\/25<\/td>\n 2025\/26<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \nGoals conceded<\/p>\n 3<\/td>\n 11<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \nSet-piece goals conceded<\/p>\n 0<\/td>\n 5<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \nClean sheets<\/p>\n 5<\/td>\n 2<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \nShots on target faced<\/p>\n 26<\/td>\n 26<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \nSave percentage<\/p>\n 88.5%<\/td>\n 57.7%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Stat<\/td>\n 21\/22<\/td>\n 22\/23<\/td>\n 23\/24<\/td>\n 24\/25<\/td>\n 25\/26<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \nGoals & assists\/ 90<\/p>\n 1.17<\/td>\n 0.85<\/td>\n 0.99<\/td>\n 1.25<\/td>\n 0.51\u00a0<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \nShots<\/p>\n 4.33<\/td>\n 3.31<\/td>\n 3.79<\/td>\n 3.23<\/td>\n 1.77<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \nTouches in pen area<\/p>\n 9.8<\/td>\n 8.22<\/td>\n 8.55<\/td>\n 9.49<\/td>\n 5.19<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \nSucc. take-ons<\/p>\n 42.7%<\/td>\n 37.8%<\/td>\n 35.1%<\/td>\n 42.3%<\/td>\n 10%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n