Liverpool's 2025/26 Premier League title defence has disintegrated into a full-blown crisis, with new manager Arne Slot presiding over a shocking collapse in form that has left the club languishing in mid-table and setting a host of unwanted records.
A Dramatic Fall from Grace
The season began with promise, with the Reds briefly leading the table at the end of September. However, that early success has spectacularly unravelled. The team has plummeted to 11th place in the league, leaving them a staggering 11 points adrift of the leaders just before December, a gap that appears almost insurmountable for a defending champion.
The catalyst for this unprecedented downturn is widely believed to be a 2-1 defeat to Crystal Palace in late September. That loss triggered a dreadful run of form, with Liverpool managing to secure just three points from their subsequent seven league matches.
Damning Results and Defensive Collapse
The scale of the problem was starkly illustrated in a shocking 3-0 home defeat to then-19th-placed Nottingham Forest. This result, which pushed Liverpool into the bottom half of the table, was symptomatic of issues across the entire pitch. It also marked their second consecutive 3-0 Premier League defeat, following a loss by the same margin to Manchester City.
This defensive frailty has been a hallmark of their season. The once-stout Liverpool backline has become alarmingly fragile, repeatedly exposed on the counter-attack and vulnerable from set-pieces. The team has already conceded six goals from dead-ball situations, looking a shadow of the dominant force that won the league the previous season.
Record-Breaking Failures and Immense Pressure
Compounding the on-pitch issues is the failure of the club's record-breaking summer investment. Despite spending over £400 million on new signings like Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz, the team looks disjointed, with the new arrivals struggling to make a positive impact.
This has contributed to a series of miserable statistical milestones for manager Arne Slot:
- Sustained Losing Run: Liverpool suffered four straight Premier League defeats at one point, part of a wider collapse that has placed immense pressure on the manager.
- Back-to-Back Heavy Losses: The 3-0 defeats to Manchester City and Nottingham Forest marked the first time since April 1965 under Bill Shankly that the club had suffered two consecutive league losses by a three-goal margin.
- Unwanted Managerial Record: Slot became the first Liverpool manager since Don Welsh in September 1953 to oversee five consecutive defeats in all domestic competitions.
- Isak's Poor Start: Record signing Alexander Isak became the first player to lose his first four Premier League starts for Liverpool in over a century, matching a negative record set by Percy Saul in 1906.
With the season in tatters and the team's form in freefall, the pressure is mounting at Anfield as Arne Slot searches for answers to halt this dramatic slide.
