Liverpool have a fight on their hands to qualify for next season's Champions League with their Premier League title defence already all but over
MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY 11: Amazon Prime pundit and former footballer, Alan Shearer looks on prior to the UEFA Champions League 2024/25 League Knockout Play-off first leg match between Manchester City and Real Madrid C.F. at Manchester City Stadium on February 11, 2025 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)
Alan Shearer has weighed in on Arne Slot's future at Liverpool(Image: Michael Regan/Getty Images)
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Liverpool could be the worst defending Premier League champions in history and Arne Slot must make sure they qualify for next season's Champions League if he wants to keep his job.
That's the view of the Premier League's all-time record goalscorer Alan Shearer, who himself knows a thing or two about an inadequate title defence. The Reds romped to a record-equalling 20th English top-flight title last season with four games to spare, but despite investing heavily in the transfer market last summer, their title defence has been miserable at best.
Following last weekend's 3-2 defeat at Bournemouth - their seventh reversal of the current league campaign - Slot's side has slipped to sixth in the table and trails pacesetters Arsenal by 14 points.
Attention has already turned to finishing in the top four, rather than trying to retain their Premier League crown, and Match of the Day pundit Shearer, who scored a record 260 Premier League goals and won the title with Blackburn Rovers in 1995, has taken a dim view of the Reds' efforts to defend their crown.
Speaking to Betfair, Shearer said: "I'm in a good position to talk about being the worst defending champions in the Premier League because we did that at Blackburn when we won the league. I think we finished sixth as well the season after we won it.
"I guess on the other side of it, we didn't sign any players, whereas they've spent roughly £400million on players. So, it possibly would be the case that they could become the worst defending champions the league have seen, yeah.
"When you're spending that much money as a football club, it would be a spectacular fall and fail to go from where they were last season to not qualifying for the Champions League this season.
"It looks as if top five will be enough so for Liverpool to finish outside of the top five would not be a good look for Slot or Liverpool."
The Reds spent freely in the transfer market last summer, twice breaking their record transfer fee to land German ace Florian Wirtz and top striker Alexander Isak from Newcastle United, who visit Anfield tomorrow night (Saturday).
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With other signings, such as Jeremie Frimpong and Milos Kerkez, Liverpool's transfer spend for the summer reached a staggering £446m, although they recouped around £260m from the sales of players like Luis Diaz, Darwin Nunez and Jarell Quansah.
The aggressive investment has taken a while to transfer into results on the pitch, however, and although the Reds could still win the Champions League or the FA Cup, the pressure is on Slot to ensure that his team is dining at Europe's top table again next season, otherwise Shearer believes the Dutchman could pay for it with his job.
The former Newcastle striker said: "Well, you can say a few managers in the Premier League are walking a tight rope. I think if you go right through, other than perhaps Arsenal, I know they had a bad result last weekend, but other than Arsenal, I think it's very similar. Tottenham are the same. But yeah, Liverpool, with the very high standards that they set, haven't reached anywhere near where they were last season.
"It's difficult when they're off the back of a 6-0 win at home in the Champions League and qualifying for the last eight and going straight into the round of 16.
"But I guess when you look at Liverpool and the energy that they showed last year, particularly in those midfield positions, there's so much missing. And defensively, they’ve been a shadow of themselves from what we saw last season, despite the huge amounts that they've spent on players.
"That result at Bournemouth sort of summed them up last week, really for all three goals, not just the one they conceded in the last minute, which was the winner to Bournemouth. So certainly, plenty to work on, but I would say there's lots of clubs like that."
Liverpool face Shearer's hometown club Newcastle on Saturday evening at Anfield in a match the hosts dare not lose after their hugely disappointing defeat to the Cherries last weekend.
Anything but win will throw more pressure on Slot and Shearer believes that Champions League qualification will need to be prioritised above everything else in order to keep the Reds' boss in his position.
"I would think Slot has to finish in a Champions League spot to keep his job ahead of next season," Shearer said. "I mean, what trophies have they got left to play for? They've got two left. The FA Cup and Champions League I guess, because they're not winning the Premier League.
"But it's not beyond them to win the Champions League with the form they're in, in that competition and the history they have.
"I wouldn't say that he has to win a trophy, but I think he has to qualify for the Champions League again to keep his job ahead of next season. That would be the big thing."