Arne Slot admitted he was delivering an 'unpopular opinion' as he tried to analyze Liverpool's poor Premier League form this season compared to last year's title triumph
James Findlater Content Editor
17:02, 27 Jan 2026
Liverpool boss Arne Slot speaking during a press conference
Arne Slot delivered an 'unpopular opinion' as he analyzed Liverpool's poor title defense(Image: Getty Images)
Arne Slot has suggested that Liverpool being knocked out of the Champions League last season played a big part in the Reds winning the Premier League title.
Liverpool fell at the first hurdle in the knockout stages in Europe last season, having been beaten on penalties by eventual winners Paris Saint-Germain. Despite that disappointment, the Reds went on to lift the league title for the second time in five years.
In stark contrast this season, their hopes of defending their crown already look to be over, but their Champions League hopes are still very much alive. They face Qarabag in their final league phase encounter at Anfield on Wednesday, with a top-eight finish within touching distance.
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Jamie Carragher has theorized that Liverpool is not set up to succeed in the Premier League this season, but is ideal for Europe. Slot sees things a little differently though - the Liverpool boss instead feels that last season’s success had a lot to do with the Reds’ early exit from Europe.
Asked whether he would change his thoughts on his squad depth given the number of injuries his side has had this season, Slot said during his press conference on Tuesday: “Even if you would reconsider and come to a different decision, then the question is are we able to change it? Can we make this squad bigger with the money available and the things we can do?
“But last season showed, although I think we were maybe one or two players short compared to last season in terms of numbers, if you then add three long-term injuries to that, then all of a sudden it’s quite a lot.
Liverpool's Dutch manager Arne Slot celebrates with the Premier League trophy at the end of the English Premier League football match between Liverpool and Crystal Palace at Anfield in Liverpool, north west England on May 25, 2025.
Arne Slot has claimed Liverpool's title triumph was helped by being knocked out of Europe(Image: Getty Images)
“Again, this is not going to be a popular opinion what I’m going to tell you now, but maybe the reason why we won the league last season is that we had to play Paris Saint-Germain in the last-16.
“As you know, they beat us, and we had every time a week to prepare for the next game. Maybe that has helped us as well, maybe if we had to double up that programme, which Arsenal had, and they dropped a few points in that period of time, that has helped us in winning the league.
“We are aware, every manager is aware, the bigger squad you have, the better equipped you are for so many games, but I’m also aware of the fact that, even today, I had to disappoint one or two players that would prefer to play.
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“Now, if you have 10 or 15 that want that, that’s also not a good thing to have, so it’s not an easy balance to find, but obvious because of the three long-term injuries now, it’s a disbalance.”
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Liverpool.com says: We're not really sure what Slot is getting at here. Liverpool was 15 points ahead of Arsenal by the time it got knocked out by PSG - going out of Europe had little effect on winning the title.
This feels an awful lot like he's trying to rewrite last season's triumph in order to soften the blow of this season's poor form. There's a reason why you think it's an unpopular opinion, Arne.