23 hours ago
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Losing 3-0 at home can never be a good thing for any team, let alone Premier League title holder Liverpool. But for a second successive campaign, Arne Slot fell to a defeat against Nottingham Forest at Anfield.
Defensively weak — individually and collectively — and with limited options going forward, whenever Liverpool attacked, the Reds looked a meek version of themselves. Alexander Isak was anonymous, Cody Gakpo toiled, and Mohamed Salah did well to begin with, but they got considerably worse as Neco Williams comfortably came out on top in that battle.
It isn't just a one-off, either. Frankly, Liverpool has performed at a similar level for most of the season. Early on, it was getting results without playing well; right now, it isn't getting either.
In terms of a starting position, few in the Liverpool team can be on anything other than thin ice. Arne Slot, as has been the case for a while now, simply has a few major decisions on his plate.
Alisson Becker, Virgil van Dijk, Ryan Gravenberch. Beyond that, does anyone have their spot in the team assured?
At right-back, Dominik Szoboszlai filled in well enough but cannot offer what a regular full-back does, as good as he has been this season. His place in the team shouldn't be in question, but Conor Bradley and Jeremie Frimpong are set to be out for the next few weeks, so he might have to get used to that different spot.
On the opposite side of the defense, you can make the case for Andy Robertson playing, but Liverpool signed Milos Kerkez precisely because he was an upgrade, even if he hasn't yet shown it. Swapping one for the other brings both positives and negatives.
Ibrahima Konate, meanwhile, is the player whose place should arguably be most at threat. In Joe Gomez, there is someone who can play in his position, but Slot has so far been reluctant to use him.
Perhaps because of his limited game time in recent months and tendency to pick up injuries, the 28-year-old's only starts have come in the League Cup. This week, with games against PSV and West Ham to come, that will surely change.
In midfield, Alexis Mac Allister was poor against Nottingham Forest, and Curtis Jones was mixed at best. The latter, at least, can point to a lack of match action of late as an explanation for some rustiness.
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Gakpo, Isa,k and Salah in attack were at least as bad, with Hugo Ekitike deserving starts but Slot stuck in a conundrum of needing his big-money Swede to improve, and not being able to trust him to perform in the meantime.
It is an issue that perhaps could have been foreseen after he missed the whole summer, forcing through a move to Anfield, but the solution is a far from obvious one. Short-term, Isak shouldn't be in the starting XI; long-term, that won't help anyone.
After a dire start to the new season, with Liverpool now having lost as many games as it has won in the Premier League, few players can say their position in the team is safe.
Changes were inevitable across the course of the next few weeks, with Liverpool facing a season-defining period. The problem for Slot right now is that nothing he is trying appears to make a difference, with his team looking worryingly out of ideas.
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