Jamie Carragher predicts scenario where Arne Slot will have to choose Liverpool priority

Jamie Carragher has weighed in on how this season is going for Liverpool head coach Arne Slot, who may have to choose his priority at some point in the next few months

Jamie Carragher and Gary Neville on Sky Sports.(Image: Robbie Jay Barratt - AMA/Getty Images)

Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher says there is a scenario this season where the Reds end up being likelier to win the Champions League than qualify for it via the Premier League standings.

Arne Slot's side finished third in the league phase of the Champions League but is languishing in sixth domestically. It follows a pattern across the Premier League, where five of the top eight were English teams.

Last weekend, Chelsea and Manchester United both overtook Liverpool in the Premier League as the Reds lost to Bournemouth. With just under half the season remaining, Slot's men have work to do.

"I have been taken aback by how people have turned on him," Carragher said on the latest Stick To Football podcast, brought to you by Sky Bet.

"People are talking about changing the manager now, and you can't change a manager who won the league a year ago. You have to assess it in the summer.

"In the past, there has been a real bond between Liverpool fans and the manager. But we are in a new age of social media where everyone has an opinion.

Arne Slot and Hugo Ekitike embrace during Liverpool's win over Qarabag(Image: Getty Images)

"I can't believe Liverpool supporters have spoken the way they have about Arne Slot.

"He has got to have a good second half of the season, have a run in the FA Cup, get into the Champions League and build some momentum for next season, where you believe the team is going somewhere.

"I think it is a toss-up [to finish in the top four] but Liverpool should do. But it might get to a stage in March or April where Liverpool has more chance of winning the Champions League than finishing in the top four or five."

Only Arsenal and Bayern Munich picked up more points than Liverpool during their eight league games. The Reds beat both Madrid clubs and Inter Milan, finishing on 18 points despite losing 4-1 to PSV in November.

"It's what you want if you start the Champions League season — you want to finish top eight," Slot said. "That helps, of course, because you skip a round and sometimes you can have a really hard team to play against.

"So, we are happy that we are going straight away to the last 16, especially because it's only two years ago that we were playing Europa League and we went out in the quarter-finals against Atalanta."

Liverpool.com says: In Europe, the game is simply much better suited to the way that the Reds are set up. It is much less physical and set-piece focused, which plays into Liverpool's hands, as Anthony Gordon explained well this week.