Liverpool
Slot: Isak and Salah are adapting to a new system, not in crisis
Slot rejects alarm over Isak and Salah, blaming adaptation to a new system and match minutes. early.
Arne Slot has downplayed concerns over Alexander Isak and Mohamed Salah, insisting the perceived dip in form stems from adaptation to a new system and disrupted minutes rather than a fundamental problem. Liverpool remain top of the Premier League, but questions over individual output dominated the manager’s press conference ahead of Saturday’s trip to Chelsea.
Salah has three goals and three assists from nine games across all competitions, a long way short of the output he reached last season when he recorded 29 goals and 18 assists in the Premier League alone. Slot argued the decline in open-play goals began in the second half of last season and is related to how opponents set up.
“I see the same as the second part of last season, where he scored 12 goals, five from penalties [and] one from a set-piece, so six open-play goals,” Slot reflected. “He is part of a team that faces different opposition than the first half of last season. To make that maybe a little bit more of an insight, if you compare how we won the away game against Man Utd, where they tried to play out from the back and we took the ball off them three times, to how United played at Anfield, where [André] Onana only went long, then that is one of the answers why it is more difficult for us to score open-play goals.
“Mo has a part of this, already you could see this in the second half of last season and the first part of this season. But now you are focused on Mo, the next time you are focused on Florian [Wirtz] then you are focused on Cody [Gakpo]… what I’m trying to say is we don’t score as many open-play goals anymore as we did in the first part of last season. This is something we work very hard on.
Slot highlighted Isak’s limited minutes after a truncated pre-season and time away from the squad. “I said to him when he started that the difficult thing will be you will have your appearances, but if you add the minutes together, [he] probably only had two or three 90-minute games,” Slot explained. “That is what we inherited from the situation of him not being with the team in Newcastle and we knew this before, so it’s not an excuse.
“He already scored a goal, he gets fitter and fitter, but the main thing is he adjusts to his teammates and the teammates adjust to him. The more he plays together, the better things will work. He had a great counter movement in the [Crystal] Palace game , where in the end the midfielder didn’t see that and he already played the ball to the right. If he would have seen it, he would have been one-on-one to the goalkeeper. So, these are things you get if you play more together.
Slot also addressed criticism of Ibrahima Konaté, noting errors have been shared across the squad and stressing a measured assessment of performance. “What I think is if you are losing a game of football, as we did against Galatasaray and against Palace, then it doesn’t help if you lose a ball a few times very easily,” the Reds boss concluded. “He has been one of them, definitely not the only one because against Galatasaray I think apart from the penalty they created three or four moments and all three or four from us losing a very simple ball without any pressure, which happened to him once in the Crystal Palace game and once against Galatasaray.
“If you then lose a game of football, there’s so much focus on that moment and then all of a sudden [the] 90 minutes have been very, very poor, which is not the way I analyse a game. Especially not afterwards where I have the time to analyse, to watch it one more time, and see what we did well and what we did wrong.
“In the last two games, it has been obvious and clear we’ve made a few errors, not only him but also others, that we’re not used to. If you do things people are not used to and you lose a game a football then normally he, other ones and the manager gets criticised.”
Liverpool
Liverpool’s summer arrivals: early returns assessed
Liverpool’s new arrivals have made contrasting starts, with Barcola slow and Muñoz already producing key moments.
Liverpool did not repeat the scale of last summer’s record outlay, but the club still spent heavily in the latest transfer window. Those additions have helped deliver an unbeaten opening to the campaign, with four wins and three draws before the three-week international break.
The question now is how much each newcomer has contributed in the early stages of their Liverpool careers.
Bradley Barcola has made five appearances and, as the club’s statement signing of the summer and the second-most expensive transfer in its history, attention around him was always going to be intense. Yet there are clear reasons his start has been restrained. Arriving late from Paris Saint-Germain for a fee that could rise to £123 million ($163 million) with add-ons, he also missed pre-season under Iraola. His situation was further complicated by a late return from the World Cup and his omission from early rosters for the European champions, leaving him without any friendly or competitive action before moving. That has produced a quiet beginning, with no goal involvements from his five outings, though he is expected to improve as sharpness returns.
Victor Muñoz has taken a different route. He technically joined Liverpool as a World Cup winner without playing a minute in Spain’s successful run, but his place in Luis de la Fuente’s squad followed an excellent season with Osasuna. Since arriving on Merseyside, the 23-year-old has offered genuine spark across six appearances. He has not yet reached the level of Cody Gakpo early in the season, but he has still been Liverpool’s second-most lively wide player. His first competitive outing brought a stoppage-time penalty that secured a draw at Newcastle United, and he followed that with a powerful equaliser against Nottingham Forest. Supporters have already seen his speed, attitude and versatility, with more expected across the rest of his debut season.
Arsenal
One key issue facing each Premier League side after five matches
Five games in, the Premier League is already revealing title doubts, transition pains and early surprises.
The first five matchdays of the 2026/27 Premier League season have already given shape to a campaign that promised uncertainty from the outset. With the table still settling and another international break leaving a long pause before Matchday 6, there is time to take stock of what has emerged so far.
Arsenal’s title defence has already met resistance after a heavy defeat to Brighton & Hove Albion. Before that trip, they looked close to untouchable, but the champions have not yet shown enough to pull clear of their rivals. Bruno Guimarães has added quality, though injury has delayed his rhythm, while Christos Tzolis has stepped in as a serviceable replacement for Leandro Trossard. Even so, Arsenal’s attack was found wanting in their toughest test to date, with concerns lingering over the goalscoring burden on Bukayo Saka and the lack of a set-piece breakthrough.
Aston Villa, meanwhile, are navigating a period of change after rebuilding their core in the summer. Their first league win of the season offered encouragement, with Johan Manzambi, Nicolas Jackson and João Gomes all making useful contributions. Bournemouth have begun slowly under Marco Rose, but there is little panic as they balance league form with European demands after an opening win at Real Sociedad. Brentford continue to look like a difficult assignment at home, built on physicality and a set-piece threat that has already caused problems for visiting sides.
Brighton’s pressing game has been a feature of the early weeks, while Chelsea’s start under Xabi Alonso has raised serious questions about their structure without the ball. Coventry City finally recorded a first Premier League win in more than 25 years, though goals remain a concern. Everton’s window left them thin on options, Fulham are showing signs of adjustment under Álvaro Arbeloa, and Hull City have been one of the early surprises, even if history offers a warning.
Elsewhere, Ipswich Town, Leeds United, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Newcastle United, Nottingham Forest, Sunderland and Tottenham Hotspur all have distinct questions to answer as the season develops.
Liverpool
Ranking Julian Ward’s Liverpool Signings From His First Spell
Julian Ward is expected back at Liverpool, and his first seven signings tell a mixed story.
Julian Ward is back in line for a key Liverpool role, with The Athletic reporting that he is expected to return as sporting director. Ward previously held that job for the 2022-23 season before leaving the club, and after coming back as technical director in 2024, he is now set to oversee recruitment once more.
That earlier period produced seven signings, and their impact varied dramatically. Some deals brought promise, others profit, and a few were undermined by injuries or inconsistency. Here is a fresh look at how those additions shaped up.
At the bottom sits Arthur Melo. The midfielder managed only one senior appearance, a 13-minute outing in a 4-1 defeat to Napoli. An injury picked up in training required surgery and ended his season. Signed on loan from Juventus to address midfield shortages, the move quickly became a costly setback.
Calvin Ramsay also struggled to establish himself. Liverpool paid $5.5 million for the right back after his promise at Aberdeen, but he made only two senior appearances. Knee surgery in February 2023 kept him out for 264 days, and loan spells at Preston North End, Bolton Wanderers, Wigan Athletic and Kilmarnock failed to reignite his momentum. He is currently at St. Mirren and looks set to leave when his contract expires next year.
Fábio Carvalho offered some return, though not enough to convince Liverpool he had a long-term future there. After a January move from Fulham collapsed, he signed in the summer of 2023. He was used early under Jürgen Klopp but later faded, finishing with just two Premier League appearances after Christmas in 2022-23. A difficult loan at RB Leipzig was followed by a stronger spell at Hull City, yet Liverpool sold him to Brentford for $25.5 million in 2024.
Darwin Núñez brought goals, chaos and frustration in equal measure. Signed for an initial $78.6 million, he produced 31 goal contributions in Klopp’s final season, but missed chances and disciplinary lapses repeatedly undercut his case. He has since moved to Saudi Arabia.
Cody Gakpo remains more divisive than definitive. Signed for $45 million, he has delivered both dry spells and productive stretches, including 18 goals in all competitions in 2024-25. Last season brought only nine goals in 52 games, but his record suggests there is still time to improve his standing.
