Across the length of any season, no matter how good a side, there will be a stretch where performances dip. If a side is fortunate, they’ll still manage positive results when that happens, at least for the most part. For Liverpool, at least in general, that dip has tended to come after the turn of the calendar.
A sluggish January or frustrating February is the sort of thing most fans are used to witnessing, injuries and the season’s exertions catching up before, at least in the best seasons, the side
rallies for a late push to secure a piece of silverware. The 2025-26 season, though, has seen a side struggling at the start.
There are plenty of good reasons for that, and until this past week the Reds had been perfect despite the less than inspiring performances. Following back-to-back losses, though, first in the Premier League and then Champions League, we might be getting to the point where we need to see the side rally.
“That’s part of the game,” midfielder Curtis Jones said following Tuesday’s European defeat at Galatasaray. “Of course you would like to [win every game] but the reality is the teams we play are world class. If you lose games it’s how you bounce back. We’ve got a huge game in three days, so we go again.
“The lads have to stay calm. It’s fine, it’s part of it—not fine that we lose but I think it’s fine in the way we just have to stay calm. It will all change, of course it will. It’s always hard when you lose games, but I thought there were positives from the whole of the game. It was a hard one but we’ll go again.”
The unrelenting pace of the schedule means three days are now two, with a trip to face Chelsea at Stamford Bridge set for the late Saturday kickoff. Chelsea were consensus picks to finish top four this season but currently sit eighth on eight points, level with Everton, Brighton, Fulham, and Leeds.
A win at home against Liverpool on Saturday might get them into the top four if results elsewhere fall their way, but it’s unlikely they will end the match week in the Champions League places. Liverpool’s defeat at Crystal Palace last weekend, though, means they could end the matchweek as low as third.
Second place Arsenal are currently two points behind and kick off ahead of the Reds on the weekend—and they will be expected to take maximum points from a struggling West Ham. Meanwhile, Palace are three points back in second with an equal goal differential to Liverpool and will take on Everton.
There is the potential for pressure, then, and that’s something hadn’t really existed for this Liverpool side at the start of the season as the defending champions worked their way to a 5-0-0 league start despite looking shaky at times. Perhaps it will be that pressure that helps belatedly kick them into gear.
