Wayne Rooney expects Arne Slot 'conversations' amid clear Liverpool target

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Liverpool head coach Arne Slot is under pressure to improve performances and results, with Wayne Rooney expecting "conversations" to take place when the season ends

Wayne Rooney has offered his opinion(Image: BBC)

Wayne Rooney says Liverpool head coach Arne Slot will be under pressure in terms of his job should the Reds miss out on the Champions League places this season.

This weekend, Liverpool failed to beat lowly Tottenham at Anfield with Richarlison netting a last-minute equalizer after Slot's men had allowed the game to drift. Dominik Szoboszlai had opened the scoring with a free-kick in the first half, but the Reds never managed to build on that lead.

"I don’t know what the board’s objectives were at the start of the season, but obviously as champions, he would be expected to finish in the Champions League spots," Rooney told BBC Sport.

"I think there will be conversations if he doesn’t and see what happens from there. Liverpool have been inconsistent this season. There have been many new signings, but other players are not playing as well as in previous seasons."

Liverpool is on track to finish inside the Champions League places this season, at least according to Opta's supercomputer. According to those numbers, the Reds are predicted to finish above Chelsea.

With eight games left, the Reds are fifth in the standings. They still have to play the Stamford Bridge outfit, Manchester United and Aston Villa in the run-in, with those clashes — only one of which is at Anfield — potentially set to be decisive.

Liverpool head coach Arne Slot suffered another disappointing result on Sunday(Image: Gaspafotos/MB Media/Getty Images)

After this weekend's action, Opta's supercomputer has Liverpool down to finish on 62 points, which would mean the Reds picking up 13 from a possible 24 to conclude the campaign.

Chelsea is predicted to finish on 61 points, with Liverpool given a 33 percent chance of making the Champions League, Liam Rosenior's team on 23 percent, and Brentford on five percent.

Manchester United is predicted to finish third on 66 points with an 80 percent chance of getting into UEFA's top competition, with Aston Villa fourth on 64 points with a 56 percent chance.

Unai Emery's men could also qualify for the Champions League by winning the Europa League. It has a 1-0 lead over Lille ahead of the second leg at Villa Park this week.

"Of course it's damaging," Arne Slot said of the dropped points against Spurs. "But it's how many times this has been damaging for us.

"We don't help ourselves at all. It's so many times this season that we've created much more xG or chances than the amount of goals we score.

"Usually in the Premier League you see a lot of teams outperforming their xG, but that definitely is [not] what we are doing throughout the whole season. Then a game still stays tight until the end and we struggle to keep clean sheets.

"We haven't had as many clean sheets as you would want if you want to go higher up in the table. That's a bad combination for picking up the amount of points we want to pick up."