This has been a torrid season for Liverpool, whose Premier League title triumph under Arne Slot now feels like a distant memory.
While silverware remains on the cards in the Champions League and FA Cup, quarter-final ties against Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City after the international break could be sobering experiences for the Anfield side, who are not just struggling for form but any semblance of fluency too.
Liverpool players look dejected-2
It's up to this crop of players to ensure Liverpool play in the Champions League next season, but it's hard to say they deserve it on the basis of current evidence, and several of these so-called stars could be at risk when we enter the summer transfer window.
Who could leave Liverpool this summer
Liverpool are set to ring the changes this summer, with Jeremy Jacquet already signed for £60m and preparing to leave Rennes and settle at Anfield.
It could be in Ibrahima Konate's place, with the France international out of contract this summer and yet to sign a new contract.
Konate has been terrorised by mistakes this term, and parting ways could be the right call for all parties. However, with Mohamed Salah also flattering to deceive, could he be off too?
Salah has endured a tough term, no doubt, and at 33, time isn't on the Egyptian forward's side. But even when considering interest from the Saudi Pro League, it might be worth keeping the club legend around for one more year.
mohamed-salah-liverpool (2)
FSG are prone to mistakes, to be sure, but they have historically shown an awareness of those mistakes, with the midfield exodus of 2023 attesting to that.
Jordan Henderson and Fabinho were sold, but Naby Keita, James Milner and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain all released at the end of their contracts.
Naby-Keita-Liverpool-Sadio-Mane
Liverpool's midfield had gone stale, and change was overdue.
Now, surprisingly, the same might be true. It's only been three years, but one of the new midfielders is already looking like another Keita.
Slot has created Liverpool's new Keita
Keita was one of the most talented midfielders on the planet when plying his craft for RB Leipzig in the German Bundesliga, but injuries wrecked his hopes of becoming a superstar at Liverpool after his £52m move.
In different circumstances, Alexis Mac Allister is in danger of becoming the man he replaced. The 27-year-old has suffered an inexplicable athletic and physical decline this season, and he's been branded as looking like "Fabinho in his final year".
Alexis Mac Allister in the Prem for Slot
Stats (* per game)
Matches (starts)
Goals
Assists
Touches*
Accurate passes*
Key passes*
Dribbles*
Ball recoveries*
Tackles + interceptions*
Clearances*
Duels (won)*
Maybe a comparison with Keita would be more accurate. Mac Allister has not been disrupted by long-term injuries, but he's undoubtedly languishing so far beneath the expectations and standards he set himself that it beggars belief.
Slot has to shoulder a significant amount of blame for Liverpool's decline this season. And if you're asking us? He'll be sacked during FSG's end-of-season review.
But there are so many mitigating factors at Anfield which do warrant discussion. Mac Allister's slump in form is a case in point. Who foresaw this one? During the early weeks of the campaign, it was attributed to poor fitness after playing for Argentina in South America. The high altitudes were the problem. He didn't have a proper pre-season and was always going to take a bit of time to click back into gear.
It's now March, and there are two months of the season left. Is this dim glow of the lightbulb the new norm for a midfielder rightly lauded as a "superstar" by the likes of Joe Cole after he joined Liverpool and led them to silverware?
Arne Slot and Alexis Mac Allister for Liverpool
The circumstances differ, but Mac Allister may well be in danger of becoming Liverpool's new version of Keita, a player of elite natural ability who simply can't find the fitness and form to channel it and make a positive impact.
The 2022 World Cup winner does have two incredible seasons to showcase on his CV, but he's flattered to deceive right through the 2025/26 season, and it's beginning to look increasingly likely that his future will be a hot point of discussion this summer.
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