Liverpool return to Premier League action on Sunday away to West Ham United with head coach Arne Slot facing mounting pressure. The manager who delivered the Reds' title success in his first season at the helm now finds himself answering difficult questions.
Whether justified or not, particularly following a summer marked by significant upheaval and tragedy, such scrutiny is part and parcel of managing Liverpool when overseeing nine defeats in the last 12 matches across all competitions.
That stark reality confronts Slot and his squad after their campaign deteriorated further on Wednesday with a 4-1 home defeat to PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League.
The Reds retain a realistic prospect of advancing in that tournament, but their ambitions of retaining the Premier League crown appear to have vanished even before the Christmas decorations go up, following consecutive 3-0 losses to Manchester City and Nottingham Forest.
The reigning champions currently occupy 12th position, trailing rivals Everton and Manchester United, and sitting 11 points behind table-toppers Arsenal.
And looking ahead to the West Ham fixture, two Gunners' legends have been offering their thoughts on Liverpool and Slot's prospects.
"Having won the league, you'd think he's got a lot of credit in the bank," said Alan Smith, the Sky Sports pundit who claimed two titles with Arsenal during his playing career. "Surprisingly, quite a few fans seem to be turning, and it's not like Liverpool fans, but that (Nottingham) Forest defeat seemed to tip some over the edge. And if they keep losing, the hierarchy, I suppose, will have to look at it.
"I was amazed when Claudio Ranieri got dumped after Leicester won the league. So, a similar situation, I suppose, in a way. But I think he's still got goodwill in the bank, and they'll be looking beyond Christmas just to hope things get better."
Arne Slot finds himself under pressure
Arne Slot finds himself under pressure (Image: KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV/AFP via Getty Images)
Writing in his weekly column for BestBettingSites.co.uk, Smith also considered whether Slot should leave out Mohamed Salah, the modern-day Anfield icon who, like numerous team-mates, is enduring a difficult spell.
He said: "It's a big call, isn't it, to drop Salah? But there's a case for it. He hasn't got too many alternatives on the right-hand side there.
"You're wondering whether (Hugo) Ekitike could play off the right and get him in the same team as (Alexander) Isak that way. Because that's a problem. Those two expensive forwards, can you get them both playing together?".
"You're just hoping Salah can come good, but there's not much sign of it at the moment. Plus, he'll be off to the AFCON in the middle of December. That might be an opportunity for somebody to stake a claim."
Smith's former Arsenal and England colleague Nigel Winterburn reckons the biggest issue confronting Slot lies in midfield. "It seems crazy to say that Arne Slot could be under pressure at Liverpool after winning the league, but you never know," said Winterburn, who secured two titles alongside Smith under George Graham and then another under Arsene Wenger.
"You can only talk about performances and to me, Liverpool look way too open in the middle of the pitch which is causing them huge problems defensively.
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"The players that they bought in the summer aren't making as big an impact that we expected them to make and unfortunately, we don't know the full impact that the terrible news about Diogo Jota is having on them in the dressing room.
"The club has gone through quite a big change over the summer, and they invested heavily in the summer which they obviously would have hoped would make a big difference.
"It still could as there is a long time to go in the season yet, they need to work out what their best starting XI is and stick with it for three or four weeks to get some rhythm back into their game.
"As a player, when you lose confidence, it can drain you very quickly and that's what it looks like to me - it's very hard to get that back. When they don't take their opportunities, the opposition score which puts them under huge pressure.
"They could have been 2-0 up against Nottingham Forest at the weekend but they didn't take their chances and when Forest scored, you suddenly had the feeling they'd take three points away from Anfield. We're not used to seeing that with Liverpool."
Isak, who made a record-breaking British transfer from Newcastle United, found it challenging after being given a start against Forest and was subsequently benched for the PSV match.