Perhaps suffering a bit of a sophomore slump, Arne Slot hasn’t exactly mounted a memorable defence of the title he superbly won in his first season in charge. There’s a lot of the season to go, but Arsenal were 14 points up on the reigning champions with 16 games to go. Still, things are on the up for the Reds as we leave January behind.
Securing Champions League Football and Maybe the Cup
According to the UK sports betting markets, Liverpool are primed for a top four spot. With Arsenal excluded, only Manchester City and Aston Villa are ahead of the 8/13 given to the Reds. All other teams are above evens, with Chelsea at 13/8, Manchester United at 2/1, and Newcastle United at 11/2.
Taking on Brighton next in the FA Cup won’t be easy, but even with that in mind, Liverpool are the third-favourites in the odds and a dark horse in sports predictions. Arsenal and City lead at 7/2, but if it gets heated atop the Premier League table, perhaps one will slip up, helping Slot to carve a path to silverware once again.
Of course, a team’s prospects in a knockout tournament are always uneasy. The FA Cup is famous for its upsets, after all. For league positioning, though, the Reds look to be in a good spot. You’d expect Villa to fall off of the pace of City at some point – especially if the team remains quite thin – and Brentford and Sunderland might drop, too.
Chelsea and Manchester United changed their head coaches in January, making them rather unpredictable. In small samples, both looked to be bouncing back after parting with disillusioned managers. However, the “new manager effect” can only last so long, and both look more likely to battle for fifth place than any higher up.
Finding Stable Ground to Push on from
Even though Liverpool only lost one starting XI player over the summer, there was a lot of turnover. Bringing in five contenders for first-team places, most of whom were the biggest fish at their previous clubs, wouldn’t have been easy to manage. Throw the demands of Slot, and it’s understandable why it’d take time to adjust.
From the end of November to the end of the African Cup of Nations, Liverpool strung together an impressive run of 12 games without a defeat. Six of those were wins, which would be acceptable for a team chasing the top four, but the order of the results certainly raised eyebrows. A run of four wins was followed by three consecutive draws.
This fairly minor gripe to one side, the results have been encouraging and could lay the foundation for a stronger second half of the season. Mo Salah returning after just about getting back into Slot’s good books and then going on a tear in Morocco should offer a huge boost to the attack. Too often, Salah has turned draws into wins.
The 2025/26 season hasn’t been ideal, and the pressure has certainly been piled on much quicker than many expected. Now, the team’s looking to be much more in-sync and is certainly in with a shot at the top four and perhaps even another trophy this season.