Arne Slot insisted he remains confident of avoiding the sack despite a dismal 4-1 defeat to PSV Eindhoven that has left Liverpool’s season in freefall and Anfield’s patience close to exhaustion.
The Dutchman cut an isolated figure on Wednesday night as his side crashed to a ninth defeat in 12 matches in all competitions, a collapse that has plunged the Premier League champions into their worst run of form since the 1953-54 campaign, the season that ended in relegation.
On a night thick with recrimination, Liverpool’s mounting flaws were laid bare by a ruthless PSV side who exposed their fragilities with surgical precision. The early departures of disillusioned supporters and the rows of empty red seats long before the final whistle offered a visual verdict more damning than any headline.
Liverpool have now lost three successive matches and conceded 10 goals in the process. Slot’s grip on the dressing room – and the confidence of supporters – is slipping by the week.
Yet if the walls are closing in at Anfield, Slot appears stubbornly unworried about his own position. The 45-year-old Dutchman insisted that he retains the full backing of Fenway Sports Group, despite presiding over the club’s most dramatic implosion in modern memory.
“I am feeling safe. I’ve got a lot of support from above,” he insisted. “Of course we need to turn it around, but questions being asked is normal. I’m not worried. My focus is on improving the team.”
The unwavering tone felt at odds with the evidence on the pitch. Liverpool trailed early to an Ivan Perisic penalty, and though Dominik Szoboszlai briefly restored parity, the goal did nothing to settle the rot.
Second-half strikes from Guus Til and two from Couhaib Driouech deepened the humiliation and ensured Liverpool suffered their second-heaviest European defeat.
What was supposed to be a season of consolidation after last year’s title triumph and heavy summer investment has unravelled with startling speed.
Liverpool now sit 12th in the Premier League, their first foray into the bottom half for over a decade, and their Uefa Champions League prospects are also fading fast.
The loss marked their first home defeat in the competition’s opening phase for five years, leaving them 13th in the league phase, with only the top eight assured of last-16 qualification.
Slot, who has avoided publicly blaming individuals, attempted to project unity: “We can all do better – players, coaches, myself. This is not the time to focus on individual errors.”
But Curtis Jones offered a harsher truth in a devastatingly honest post-match assessment.
“I don’t have the answers. Honestly, I don’t,” he told RTE. “It’s unacceptable. I’m past being angry. We need to show people what this club is supposed to be – right now it needs to change.”
Mbappe masterclass rescues Real Madrid
Elsewhere in Europe, Real Madrid brought their own slump to a halt thanks to a peerless performance by Kylian Mbappe, who scored all four goals in a frantic 4-3 win over Olympiacos.
Madrid had failed to win any of their past three matches in all competitions, but Mbappe delivered a reminder of why he is the sport’s most devastating weapon.
Chiquinho’s early strike had put Olympiacos ahead, but Mbappe levelled with a sharp finish before scoring twice more in a blistering seven-minute spell – the second-fastest Champions League hat-trick.
Only Mohamed Salah’s six-minute treble against Rangers in 2022 was quicker.
A patched-together Madrid defence – missing Thibaut Courtois, Dani Carvajal, Antonio Rudiger and Militao – found themselves exposed again when Mehdi Taremi and Ayoub El Kaabi struck to make the closing stages unnecessarily fraught.
But Mbappe’s fourth goal, created by a surging Vinicius Junior run, sealed a victory Xabi Alonso admitted was “crucial” in halting their poor run.
“The important thing was to change the dynamic,” the Madrid manager said. “Today Kylian stood out, but the whole team needed this.”
Arsenal shine as Bayern’s unbeaten run ends
Arsenal’s rise continues to be the most compelling storyline of the Champions League season as they extended their perfect record with a 3-1 win over Bayern Munich, ending the German champions’ unbeaten start.
The result leaves Arsenal as the only side in the competition with a 100 per cent record, just days after demolishing Tottenham 4-1 in the Premier League.
Jurrien Timber opened the scoring before 17-year-old Lennart Karl equalised with a superbly crafted Bayern goal. But second-half strikes from Noni Madueke and Gabriel Martinelli secured the points and strengthened the growing feeling that Arsenal are now Europe’s form team.
Arteta refused to buy into the hype – while simultaneously fuelling it.
“They had an incredible match against the best team in Europe,” he said. “The energy, the quality, the resilience – we must maintain it.”
Arsenal now travel to Chelsea, six points clear at the Premier League summit, and with momentum difficult to ignore.
Spurs lose thriller in Paris
Tottenham, battered by Arsenal at the weekend, found solace in defeat as they fell 5-3 to Paris Saint-Germain in a chaotic, high-quality contest in the French capital.
Thomas Frank abandoned his usual guarded pragmatism, praising his players’ spirit and their willingness to trade blows with one of Europe’s elite.
“It was the reaction I wanted,” he said. “Today I saw more identity of the team we want to create – character, personality, aggressiveness.”
Richarlison and PSG loanee Randal Kolo Muani gave Spurs two leads before Vitinha completed a hat-trick to tilt the match back towards the hosts.
Yet it was the performances of teenagers Archie Gray and Lucas Bergvall that offered Frank the most encouragement.
“The mobility, technical level, mentality – I liked it a lot,” he said. “They showed they can handle this level.”
For Luis Enrique, Vitinha’s masterful treble was the defining moment of the night: “He was sensational. The midfielders were unbelievable.”
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