After a fourth consecutive Premier League defeat at the weekend and a fifth defeat in six games in all competitions, Arne Slot must make some big changes to his Liverpool team for their clash with Crystal Palace in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday night.
The Reds fell to a disappointing 3-2 defeat to Brentford on Saturday night after a poor showing, following defeats against Crystal Palace, Galatasaray, Chelsea and Manchester United in recent fixtures.
In those games, Slot has largely opted with a familiar-looking side in every one of them. Ibrahima Konate and Virgil Van Dijk have started at centre-back, Milos Kerkez has started at left-back, and Mohamed Salah has started in attack in each of those games, while right-back and central midfield have seen minor changes.
But the only game that snapped their streak, a 5-1 win over Eintracht Frankfurt in the Champions League, saw some other changes. Salah and Kerkez were benched, while the midfield looked different too. Now, Slot must do the same again, and potentially even more, if he wants to arrest this slump and stay in the competition.
Slot Must Give Fringe Players a Chance
federico chiesa
After a busy summer transfer window, Slot has been looking to integrate a lot of new faces into the side at the same time. It started well, with five consecutive wins in the Premier League, but a lot of those victories needed late goals and that papered over the cracks.
It feels as though Slot must look to dial it back a bit, but also give some fringe players a real opportunity to earn their shirts ahead of underperforming stars that are usually some of the first names on the team sheet.
Salah, for example, has had a poor campaign by his own standards. The Egyptian netted a late goal in the defeat to Brentford at the weekend, which was his first goal contribution since he got an assist in the Merseyside derby win back on September 20th. He now has four goals and three assists in 13 appearances, where he has racked up 1029 minutes.
But then you have Italy forward Federico Chiesa, who has barely been afforded an opportunity since joining the club. The former Juventus star managed just 331 minutes of action last season, and so far this season he has featured for 245 minutes already. In that time, he has registered two goals and three assists, proving he is capable of contributing to the team.
In defence, Ibrahima Konate and Virgil Van Dijk's form has been a shadow of what we saw last season. Konate, in particular, seemingly has had his head turned by interest from Real Madrid, and with his contract expiring in the summer, there are doubts over his long-term future at Anfield.
Joe Gomez is, for once, fit and raring to go, so why not hand him an opportunity to try and turn the club's fortunes around by giving him a run in the side ahead of an underperforming star? It's also clear that Kerkez is struggling, so Slot should take him out of the limelight and bring some experience back into the side in Andrew Robertson.
Robertson, Gomez and Chiesa, who earn a combined £485,000-a-week, are more than capable of performing, and they should be given an opportunity to do so ahead of players who currently don't deserve their place in the team.
Football is a squad game, and right now, Slot isn't using his squad properly, which is costing Liverpool big time. The clash with Crystal Palace on Wednesday is a chance for him to put that right, and put his side back on track.