Having split their first two league phase Champions League matches, beating Atletico Madrid at Anfield on matchday one but then losing to Galatasaray on the road in their next game, maximum points in game three on Wednesday evening against Eintracht Frankfurt is key to the Reds’ European hopes.
Having also lost three league matches around that Galatasaray defeat and having now been beaten four games on the bounce, though, it’s more than just their European hopes they need a win for tonight—Arne Slot’s
defending Premier League champions really need to stop the bleeding and get their season back on track.
“I can come up with a few more reasons why it is important to get a result tomorrow,” was the manager’s honest response when asked about what the Frankfurt game could mean to the club’s Champions League ambitions this season. “But every time you play a game in a Liverpool shirt the aim is to win that game
“Now we play Frankfurt away, which is maybe a bit similar to Galatasaray, a stadium where the fans will be really loud. Apart from the quality Frankfurt have this is something we have to take into account. A challenge, as always when you play in the Champions League, but our players are used to these circumstances.”
After Frankfurt the Reds get, at least on paper, an easier opponent on the weekend in the league as they face mid-table Brentford. They then turn to the League Cup and a match against Crystal Palace—opposition who have already beaten Liverpool in the Community Shield and Premier League this season.
There’s no such thing as an easy opponent, though. Not when you’re playing as Liverpool have to start the season, as the Reds struggle to find an identity following a summer of major transfer moves and heavy squad turnover. And even playing well, Frankfurt on the road would make for a difficult game of football.
“It shouldn’t matter if we win or lose a game of football for the next one,” Slot added. “The aim if you play for Liverpool, if you wear this shirt, is to win every single game. So, if we win seven in a row then we want to win the next three. We didn’t. Now we’ve lost the last four. So now of course we want to win again.
“But that is not different when you lost four in a row or you won four in a row—winning is just what is expected of you if you play for Liverpool.”
