Liverpool has begun to improve in recent weeks, but defeats to Bournemouth and Man City show there is still more work to be done — and Arne Slot's roster is looking threadbare
06:00, 10 Feb 2026
Arne Slot and Milos Kerkez of Liverpool.
Arne Slot and Milos Kerkez of Liverpool.(Image: Richard Sellers/Sportsphoto/Allstar via Getty Images)
Facing an uphill battle to make the Champions League places this season, things are yet to click into place for Liverpool. Predicting the next game, let alone the remainder of the campaign, feels futile.
Arne Slot's men are playing catch-up to Manchester United and Chelsea, which only a few months ago would have seemed ludicrous. Though they have improved substantially in the last few weeks, it was from a very low bar.
There have been positives, however. There were even positives to take from Sunday's defeat to Manchester City, even though it wouldn't have felt like that inside the Liverpool locker room at the final whistle.
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Without question, having gone ahead through Dominik Szoboszlai, the Reds should have at least come away with a point. Instead, they lost the game in more ridiculous circumstances, with the Hungarian getting sent off in the process.
While that cannot be overlooked and must be addressed as Liverpool seeks to find some of the consistency that it is clearly desperate for, there were some players deserving of praise.
Milos Kerkez, for one, has come under fire a lot in some quarters since his $54 million (£40 million) move from Bournemouth in the summer. Here, though, he was quietly very good.
There is still more to come from him, especially in the final third, but his defensive assurance appears to be growing. He kept Antoine Semenyo, a former teammate, of course, very quiet on the wing.
Florian Wirtz during the Premier League match between Liverpool and Manchester City.
Florian Wirtz during the Premier League match between Liverpool and Manchester City.(Image: Carl Recine/Getty Images)
Further forward, Florian Wirtz impressed again too. His back-heeled flick into Mohamed Salah in the first half was a sign not only of his class and awareness, but also his growing confidence.
Wirtz needed more from those around him — Cody Gakpo, Mohamed Salah and Hugo Ekitike were all varying degrees of quiet, though the latter has done well of late — but he played well again and is clearly fitter and stronger than he was even a few weeks ago.
That it was Wirtz and Kerkez this week who stood out in a positive sense — a week earlier, it was Wirtz and Ekitike who got the plaudits against Newcastle — points to a wider trend.
Liverpool did not do enough business last summer — its squad is too thin and lacking in depth in key areas — but the players that it did buy, for a combined sum of around $600M, were the right ones, and there's no suggestion the club wasn't active in the window.
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In time, there is no reason to doubt that Premier League-proven Alexander Isak will come good. Without his ACL injury, we would already have seen much more from Giovanni Leoni, and Jeremie Frimpong has impressed when he has been fit.
When the next transfer window opens, in addition to Jeremy Jacquet arriving, Liverpool will need to be busy again.
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The quality of the signings it makes, on the evidence of last year, should not be in question. The major difference that needs to be addressed this time around is the quantity.
Such moves will be considerably easier to pull off if Liverpool is back in the Champions League, and not just for financial reasons. If it is to qualify for that competition, though, it is likely to be fired there by the improving likes of Ekitike, Wirtz and Kerkez.