For Liverpool’s core players, the remnants of Jürgen Klopp’s all conquering sides that won a Premier League title just last season under Arne Slot in the manager’s first year in charge, there has probably
never been a run of form as tough as the one they’re currently mired in.
The Reds have lost six of their last seven league games dating back to a defeat against Crystal Palace on the 27th of September. In that time, they have also been dumped from the FA Cup—also by Crystal Palace—and have lost two of their four Champions League ties.
Add it up and they’ve lost nine of their last 12 in all competitions. Setting aside the binary nature of the FA Cup, from they’re on 0.75 points per game over that run, which is 28.5 points over a 38 game season. Which is, at the very least, flirting with relegation.
“We’re facing one of the toughest moments of our journey, but we refuse to let this define us,” captain Virgil van Dijk wrote on Instagram. “We will rise from this. I believe in this team with everything I have. Nothing has ever been handed to us—we’ve fought for everything.
“This moment is no different. We won’t give in. Won’t give up. Every challenge is an opportunity. We must grow together, lift each other up, and show the strength that lies within us. To the fans, keep supporting us. We all need each other more than ever!”
It has been widely pointed out by everyone from fans to pundits to the manager himself that the slump the Reds are in is hard to explain—nearly impossible, even—for a side as talented and, in the past at least, mentally stout as this one has shown themselves to be.
Clearly, the tragic passing of forward Diogo Jota over the summer will played a role in their early struggles, but increasingly it feels as though problems on the pitch have now begun to take on a life of their own and left a side almost looking for an excuse to fall apart completely.
Yet this remains a title winning side. A side that on paper should be amongst the very best in Europe. A side stocked deep with mentality monsters. Every game, then, is a chance for them to rediscover that missing side of themselves. Or slip a little further from it.
West Ham are up next. An away date in London against the 17th place side in the league—a side level on points with Leeds just behind in the relegation zone. Liverpool at their best would demolish these Hammers. We wait, then. Both in hope and trepidation.
