OFFICIAL ASSESSMENT: ARNE SLOT BREAKS DOWN LIVERPOOL’S POSITION IN THE 2025 TITLE RACE
Arne Slot insists Liverpool "deserves" its fifth-place spot but warns that the best is yet to come in their 2026 title charge.
Arne Slot is adamant that Liverpool can't make excuses for their rough start defending their Premier League title. The coach wants a great end to 2025 as the Reds get ready to play Wolves at Anfield on Saturday.
The champs are currently 10 points behind as we go into this weekend's games. Arsenal is in the lead, two points ahead of Manchester City. Slot's team has already lost six times, all during a tough stretch from late September to November.
Liverpool will play Rob Edwards's Wolves on Saturday, after going six games without a loss in all competitions. This streak has pushed the Reds to fifth place, but Slot knows they still need to get better in 2026.
"I think we're in the spot we deserve after the first half of the season," Slot said, according to the Liverpool Echo.
I think we should be higher, to be honest. I was expecting and hoping we'd be higher in the standings. But even in the last six games, the difference between the other team is always really small.
We've been a little lucky with the outcome a few times, and we need to get to a point where we're so far ahead of the other team that luck doesn't matter anymore. I think the games we lost were unlucky.
The refs and set pieces have really affected our start to the season, but we can't use that as an excuse.
That's just luck. There's always a call that can go either way. That shouldn't make us lose points. We need to make sure that, like last season, when a lot of calls went against us, too, it doesn't hurt us.
Slot added: I've said it before: the players are getting fitter, not just the new guys, but also the ones who missed pre-season and were injured a lot. They're getting used to playing together.
I still think the best is yet to come for this team, which is something we all agree on and are hoping for. That's normal when you look at what's happened in the first half-year, so I'm not that surprised at where we are.
MOHAMED SALAH SET TO LEAVE LIVERPOOL: FENERBAHCE PREPARE STUNNING THREE-YEAR CONTRACT OFFER
After a decade at Anfield, Mohamed Salah's next move is the talk of football. Will he join Messi or stay in European leagues?
Mohamed Salah looks set to leave Liverpool this summer, and it sounds like he wants to stay in Europe. One of the hottest rumours right now is about Fenerbahçe; they’re ready to offer him a three-year deal worth around £52 million. That’s a huge pay packet, but probably not as big as what he’d get in Saudi Arabia.
Salah’s been on Merseyside for almost a decade, and it’s hard to overstate just how much he’s done for Liverpool. Since joining in 2017 with Jurgen Klopp in charge, he’s picked up two Premier League titles, a Champions League medal, an FA Cup, and two League Cups. Pretty impressive, honestly. But this season hasn’t gone his way, and new boss Arne Slot dropped him for a few games after his form dipped. When Salah announced in March that he’d be leaving, people started up with transfer rumours right away.
In recent years, clubs from the Saudi Pro League have shown considerable interest. Last year, Al Ittihad went as far as slapping a £150 million offer on the table, but Liverpool turned it down.
Now the story goes that Salah wants to stay in Europe even though he’d pocket way more in Saudi Arabia. Reports out of Egypt claim Fenerbahce, managed by Jose Mourinho’s old club, have already sat down with Salah’s agent. They apparently laid out their big plans, offering £17.3 million a year with a three-year contract, and they want to build the team around him to end their league title drought stretching back to 2014.
There’s also talk of Real Madrid getting involved. Still, their transfer policy usually steers clear of handing massive contracts to players pushing the end of their careers, even superstars like Salah. Clubs in Italy, like Roma, Juventus, and Inter Milan, are keeping tabs on him too. And just to make things more interesting, someone floated the idea of Salah joining up with Lionel Messi at Inter Miami in the MLS, though the league's salary cap throws a wrench into that.
At this point, everybody’s watching Salah’s next move; the only certainty is that he won’t be short of offers when he finally says goodbye to Liverpool.
WHY IS LIVERPOOL HESITATING TO HIRE XABI ALONSO DESPITE OVERWHELMING FAN SUPPORT?
Liverpool has contacted Real Madrid to investigate Xabi Alonso’s tenure, as pressure grows on current manager Arne Slot at Anfield.
Liverpool have reached out to Real Madrid to ask about Xabi Alonso, but honestly, there’s some debate going on behind the scenes. People have been talking about Alonso stepping in at Anfield, especially since Arne Slot’s season hasn’t gone over well. Fans let out some boos after that 1-1 draw with Chelsea, and the mood is pretty tense. Even though Slot led Liverpool to a league title last year, quite a few supporters seem fed up with him and would rather see Alonso take charge.
But Spanish outlet AS says Liverpool have contacted Real Madrid to get the inside scoop on what happened during Alonso’s time at the club. It sounds like the decision-makers at Liverpool are starting to feel unsure about him, and they might actually stick with Slot for another season.
Alonso landed the Real Madrid job last summer after doing wonders at Bayer Leverkusen. Still, just six months in, Madrid let him go, reportedly because the locker room was falling apart. Liverpool’s relationship with Real Madrid is strong, and they apparently want some honest feedback – kind of like asking for a reference from a past employer, which isn’t unusual.
Liverpool’s spot in next year’s Champions League is almost locked in, but with two games left, it’s not guaranteed yet. When asked about the boos, Slot admitted he has some work to do to win fans over.
He said, “Not this season. Fans won’t change their minds now. But if we get the summer we’re planning, I’m convinced we’ll be a different team next season. Results, style, everything. It’s not always easy, though. Sometimes you know what needs fixing, but getting what you want isn’t so simple. This season, it’s been pretty clear what we’re missing. We’re trying to solve it, but one issue is simply having enough fit players. Still, our guys show every week in the second half that they’re giving everything they’ve got.”