Arne Slot has a lot of thinking to do after Liverpool were defeated in the Premier League once again on Saturday.placeholder image
Arne Slot has a lot of thinking to do after Liverpool were defeated in the Premier League once again on Saturday. | Liverpool FC via Getty Images
Paul Merson does not think Liverpool will come away with a win against Aston Villa this weekend.
Paul Merson does not believe Arne Slot is at risk of being sacked by Liverpool but says he has placed ‘too much pressure on himself’ after their nightmare Carabao Cup outing this week.
The Reds were dumped from the tournament on Wednesday after a 3-0 defeat to Crystal Palace. Slot heavily rotated his squad and opted mostly for youth players as the likes of Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Cody Gakpo were left out completely.
Merson agrees Wednesday’s Liverpool team had ‘no chance of winning’ against Palace. The Sky Sports pundit has predicted how the Reds will fare against Aston Villa in the Premier League this evening, and he isn’t hopeful of the champions returning to winning ways.
Paul Merson predicts Liverpool result against Aston Villa
Despite Slot’s managerial approach being questioned, Merson doesn’t think the writing is on the wall for the Dutchman just yet. However, he has raised concerns that ‘something is wrong’ at Anfield, as the Reds have now lost six of their last seven games.
Despite debate among fans, BBC Sport claims that there is ‘not a chance’ Slot’s job is currently in danger.
“Liverpool is a calm club internally, not given to hasty, panicky decisions, certainly not when it involves a manager who won the Premier League last season,” Phil McNulty said.
Writing for his latest Sportskeeda Premier League predictions, Merson said: “Arne Slot will not be sacked soon, he will get time at Liverpool because he won the Premier League last season. But with the team he picked during the Carabao Cup fourth round loss to Crystal Palace, he has now put too much pressure on himself before the game against Aston Villa on Saturday.
“Part of me goes, 'at some point Liverpool will start winning games again'. But when you lose six out of seven games, something is wrong. And it's not just the games you are losing, it's also the confidence.
“Liverpool should forget about the Real Madrid game next week. If they lose that one, they can still qualify for the Champions League knockout stages. But defeat to Aston Villa could be the end of their hopes of retaining the Premier League title.
“That would put them 10 points behind Arsenal with a game against Manchester City coming up. Not the best situation, and I worry for Liverpool because I don't see them beating Villa this weekend.”
Mo Salah must start against Aston Villa, says Paul Merson
Salah has been miles off his usual standard so far this season, which led to him being benched against Eintracht Frankfurt in the Champions League. The Egyptian scored against Brentford last time out but his late effort wasn’t enough to get a result.
Discovering the most effective Liverpool front three seems to be proving a tough task for Slot so far.
“Another big question is whether or not Mohamed Salah starts this game for Liverpool,” Merson continued. “I think he does. If you want chances falling to players in games like these, Salah is still certainly one of them. I know he hasn't been scoring goals, but they can't leave him out of this game.”
Salah has just four goals in all competitions so far this season, and his strike against Brentford was his first in the league since Burnley on September 14th. His lack of usual electric impact has hurt Liverpool’s threat in attack, especially with Alexander Isak still finding his feet for his new club and Slot figuring out how to best play both him and Hugo Ekitike together.
Continue Reading