Arne Slot says club decision makers share his assessment of Liverpool’s damaging run of results. The manager, who had a seamless start last season, has watched that early momentum unravel and publicly voiced frustration about opposition styles, refereeing and the squad’s lack of depth.

Slot later stepped back from his comments on squad depth and refocused on recurring weaknesses: vulnerability to long balls, set pieces and a heavily altered starting XI. With speculation about his future circulating, he was asked how the board had reacted to what the club has called a 72-year slump. “They say similar things,” he insisted.

“I speak mainly to Richard [Hughes, sporting director] and once in a while to the others. They also see similar things as what I see. For me the conversations haven’t changed a lot. We always talk about the game and it’s always nicer to talk about the game if you have won than if you have lost.”

As Liverpool prepared to host an in-form Aston Villa on Saturday, Slot admitted the team showed frayed edges. “I can come up with five or six reasons why we are not winning as much or losing as much as we do but, as I say every time, there are never enough excuses to have a run of form as we had now,” he huffed.

“No matter if I could come up with 200 excuses, when you are Liverpool you cannot lose—for me—five out of six, but the reality is six out of seven.”

Slot did not give full weight to the recent defeat to Palace after a heavily changed lineup. The manager’s stance drew an uncomfortable comparison to Erik ten Hag’s refusal to accept a defeat to Tottenham Hotspur on the basis of a red card for Bruno Fernandes; Ten Hag was sacked three days after making that claim.

Ahead of the weekend fixtures, Opta data showed Liverpool had faced 19 ‘big chances’ from open play this season, a tally only newly promoted Burnley (21) exceeded, according to The Guardian. By comparison, Arsenal had faced two. Slot defended his approach: “I don’t see us conceding a lot of chances so I don’t see a reason to change our playing style completely,” he shrugged, “but we need to do better in not conceding goals.

“Against [Manchester] United, how many chances did we concede? Against [Eintracht] Frankfurt when we were 3–1 up, we hardly conceded a shot on target. In all the games we played until now we haven’t conceded a lot of chances. Not at all. We do give away a bit more than last season but that has to do with us being 1–0 down so you take a bit more risk. ]

Egypt’s plans to take Mohamed Salah and Omar Marmoush into camp ahead of the Africa Cup of Nations are creating a scheduling headache for Liverpool and Manchester City.

Reports say Egypt would like to fly Salah and Marmoush to Cairo for a friendly against Nigeria on Dec. 14. That date sits uncomfortably with Premier League commitments. City are understood to be keen on keeping Marmoush for the Crystal Palace match scheduled the same day. Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah would face an even tighter turnaround. The Reds play Brighton & Hove Albion 24 hours earlier and Salah would not have enough time to play, travel and then recover to feature for Egypt.

Liverpool will also be conscious of form. The Reds have lost six of their last seven games in all competitions and need their best players to turn things around. For City, the club must balance selections while also preparing for the absence of Rayan Aït-Nouri, who will join Algeria for international duty.

Pep Guardiola addressed the potential clash in his news conference. He said, “Always I try to solve the problem when the problem is in front of me. Right now I don’t think [about it],” and added, “I have to use them for Sunday and next Wednesday and next Sunday before the international break. When it is going to happen they cannot be here and we will see the situation and take the decisions.”

If Marmoush departs after City’s game with Palace as the club hope, the 26-year-old could miss up to eight games if Egypt reach the final. Liverpool would lose Salah for a similar period but one game fewer because they were eliminated in the Carabao Cup fourth round by Palace.

Upcoming fixtures referenced in the discussion include Tottenham (A), Brentford (H) in the Carabao Cup, Wolves (H), West Ham (H), Leeds (H), Nottingham Forest (A), Fulham (A), Sunderland (A), Arsenal (A), Chelsea (H), Burnley (H), Brighton (H), Marseille (A), Man Utd (A), and Bodø/Glimt (A).

A quarter of the 2025/26 Premier League campaign is behind us and Gameweek 10 could reshape several ongoing narratives. Arsenal head into the round with the clearest advantage. They sit four points clear of second-placed Bournemouth, six ahead of Man City and seven in front of Liverpool. Mikel Arteta’s side travel to Burnley on Saturday and will be expected to press home their superiority after scoring five at Turf Moor on their previous visit.

Defensively the Gunners have been exceptional. They have conceded just three times in all competitions and went the entirety of October without allowing a goal. Their set-piece threat has supplied narrow but decisive margins in recent matches and they will be keen to extend their lead with a win at Burnley.

Manchester United are enjoying their strongest period under Ruben Amorim, having secured a third successive victory at home to Brighton & Hove Albion last weekend. The Red Devils were convincing for 75 minutes before nervy moments as the Seagulls pressed late. Their rebuilt forward line, with Bryan Mbeumo and Matheus Cunha prominent in the Brighton win and Benjamin Šeško having opened his account in recent weeks, has been central to the upturn. Bruno Fernandes remains a reliable presence when needed. United travel to Nottingham Forest hoping to make it four straight wins and end the weekend inside the top four.

Tottenham Hotspur have been inconsistent but are third in the table on 17 points from nine matches. Thomas Frank’s Spurs face a London derby with Chelsea on Saturday. Chelsea arrive off a disappointing home defeat to Sunderland and a nervy Carabao Cup 4–3 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers. Spurs have won just once in eight home meetings with Chelsea across 90 minutes, yet Frank’s more cautious approach could help the Lilywhites seek a rare north London victory over the Blues.

Liverpool are in crisis after six defeats in seven across all competitions and four straight league losses following defeats to Brentford and Crystal Palace in the Carabao Cup. They have not lost five successive league matches since 1953, but that unwanted milestone is a real possibility against Aston Villa, who beat in-form Man City last weekend. At the Etihad on Sunday, Erling Haaland’s absence of goals has correlated with Man City defeats, and the Norwegian rarely blanks twice in a row. Bournemouth face a highly motivated City attack as the round concludes.