Liverpool

Is Arne Slot under pressure? That was the discussion on BBC Radio 5 Live's Monday Night Club as the panel reacted to Liverpool's 3-0 home loss to Nottingham Forest at Anfield - a sixth defeat in seven Premier League games.

"It is some collapse from Liverpool," said former top-flight striker Chris Sutton. "It would just seem so odd after winning the Premier League to end up sacking their manager, but it is getting to the stage where if this carries on then it is not impossible."

The Observer's football correspondent Rory Smith, who was at the game, added: "The title will buy Slot a lot of time and managing the Diogo Jota situation makes this whole season very difficult.

"Liverpool pride themselves on being run rationally, with a bigger picture in mind, but there does come a time when if you lose a lot of matches then your position obviously comes under scrutiny.

"I don't think we are there yet, but if Liverpool are 17th in March then I don't think Slot is immune from the conversation.

"The bigger issue is that I am not entirely sure he knows how to fix it. That is troubling.

"It felt like it was turning a little bit [at Anfield]. I don't think people's patience is infinite. It was a fairly chastening defeat."

Watch the full episode of Monday Night Club on BBC iPlayer and listen on BBC Sounds

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Former Premier League striker Wayne Rooney, discussing Liverpool's form and striker options on the latest episode The Wayne Rooney Show: "The new players coming in will be looking at the players from last season and thinking, 'oh they've just won the league' and probably feel a bit more pressure that they have to try to do... they probably want to try to prove that they are better than those players.

"There will be a bit more pressure, and obviously it's a big club, but I think Alexander Isak just needs a run of games.

"He just needs any type of goal to get him going and I'm sure he'll find a good run of form after that. But he'll be scratching his head. It's hard when you're going through a run of games and not scoring. You just have to try to keep everything simple."

"None of them [summer signings] have really paid off apart from Hugo Ekitike. If I was Ekitike, I'd be fuming if I wasn't playing."

Watch The Wayne Rooney Show on BBC iPlayer or listen on BBC Sounds

Brazil forward Vinicius Junior, 25, has told Real Madrid he does not intend to renew his contract which expires in the summer of 2027, because of a strained relationship with manager Xabi Alonso. (Athletic - subscription required), external

Liverpool, Manchester United and several other Premier League clubs are keeping a keen eye on Vinicius' situation. (Mirror), external

Meanwhile, the Reds have already held concrete talks over a move for Bournemouth and Ghana forward Antoine Semenyo, 25, and are aware of his £65m release clause. (Florian Plettenberg), external

Want more transfer stories? Read Tuesday's full gossip column

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We asked for your views on what Arne Slot needs to change to get Liverpool back on track.

Here are some of your comments:

David: We have world-class individual players. What we don't have at the moment is a team. It is as though they have never met each other. Arne Slot needs to drill this into them in coaching days.

John: Liverpool have to sign Marc Guehi and move Ibrahima Konate on. Both full-backs are weak defensively but we are probably stuck with them for the time being. Possibly sign at least one full-back in January and Hugo Ekitike has to start up front.

Beattie: The simple solution to the right-back problem is to play Joe Gomez. He keeps things simple and doesn't disrupt the whole team. Slot tries to over-complicate things. Curtis Jones is not a full-back and is not good enough to start for the first team!

Ian: Since John Heitinga left to join Ajax, Liverpool haven't been so effective and these are big shoes for Giovanni van Bronckhorst to fill. They need to go back to basics to begin to show some improvement.

James: A third of the way through the season and Slot still doesn't know his best XI. He is playing proven players out of position to accommodate newbies who simply haven't performed. It was a mistake to buy Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz doesn't fit. Constant tinkering by the manager means he is losing the confidence of what should be key players.

Kevin: Slot needs to bench Mohamed Salah and get the team used to playing without him as he will be away at Afcon. As for Konate, we need to either sort his contract out or get rid as he's not helping the side. The next two games are decisive to see if Slot can turn the slump around.

It has not been the desired title-defending campaign Liverpool will have wanted.

In fact, with 18 points from 11 games, it is the Reds worst start to a season for three years.

Defending their title is looking less likely but there is no reason to believe this campaign is a complete write-off.

In 2022-23, Liverpool had just 16 points after 12 games and went on to finish fifth under Jurgen Klopp.

They will, however, have to start picking up points soon with the top eight looking fiercely congested at this point in the season.

Jordan Chamberlain
Fan writer

Image source, Getty Images

We are nearly in December and Alexander Isak has yet to score a Premier League goal for Liverpool. In fact, his only effort to date came in the EFL Cup victory over Southampton, which was largely pointless given we sacrificed the next round by playing a team of kids anyway.

For a £125m striker, this is appalling. Yes, the Swede has missed some games through injury and is struggling to get fully fit, but Liverpool are partly to blame for this. We knew Isak had an injury record, and the fact he had to miss pre-season with Newcastle in order to force a transfer played its part.

Liverpool should have paid £125m for him earlier in the summer, and if Newcastle were not budging, simply bought a winger instead, given we had already secured Hugo Ekitike to play up top.

Isak was completely invisible against Nottingham Forest. He had just 14 touches of the ball before he was hauled off in the second half. He does not drop deep to find the ball and his team-mates never pass to him.

He used to thrive off balls in behind, but because everyone plays a low block against Liverpool, his biggest strength is negated. Isak has barely had a shot this season. He just stands up top waiting for something to happen, but he is not proactive with his movement or relentless with his off-the-ball defensive stuff.

It is not all his fault - not by a long shot. But £125m is an absurd amount of money to pay for a striker who is unfit and at the moment does not fit the team's style.

Arne Slot could be out of a job with two more losses this week.

Find more from Jordan Chamberlain at Empire of the Kop, external

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We asked for your views on Liverpool crashing to yet another defeat - this time 3-0 at home to Nottingham Forest.

Here are some of your comments:

Paul: Lacked passion, creativity and organisation. I cannot remember turning the game off with 15 minutes to go, but these past two games have been horrible. Something needs to change quickly to make sure we don't lose sight of a top-four finish.

Simon: It's easy to say in hindsight, but perhaps there was just too much change in what was a title-winning squad of players. Trent was always going, and Jota's tragic death was not predictable and a huge loss. For the others, did we really need such a huge turnover of ins and outs? It reminds me of when Souness tore apart Dalglish's title-winning side in the early 90s and Liverpool slumped for years after.

Phillip: The biggest problem is they seem to be a man short when Curtis Jones plays. I'm sorry to single him out. Isak was a bad buy, and other players have to hold their hands up, namely Konate.

Bobby: At the moment, Liverpool can't beat an egg. Too weak in defence, and Salah reminds me of Torres when he lost all confidence. It's going to have to be someone with big shoes to sort this mess out.

Paul C: Insipid from Liverpool. At the very least, you expect players to work hard. Forest did, we didn't. Too many missed passes and weak challenges. Can't understand why Isak was on for so long and Ekitike was benched. He offered nothing.

John: High-profile, costly player purchases while disposing of true team players is probably the biggest factor. As for recruiting someone who had downed tools elsewhere - no comment.

Jonno: Slot won with Klopp's team and took the credit, and now he has failed to maintain it. We will see the true ability of Slot now. I am not very hopeful.

What are the main questions for Slot to answer?

What needs to change?

Tell us here

John Bennett
Final Score reporter at Anfield

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There are excuses like lack of match practice, lack of fitness and getting used to new team-mates, but it was still astonishing to see how far off the pace Alexander Isak seemed on Saturday.

I regularly covered Newcastle United games last season and, even when he was having quiet matches, it looked as if he could spring into action, in and around the box at any moment, and the stadium would be buzzing when he was on the ball, driving at goal.

Against Nottingham Forest though, he was unrecognisable from the prolific striker that played at St James' Park. You could have been forgiven for thinking he was not even on the pitch in the first half.

Even in a poor performance, Mohamed Salah and Cody Gakpo had their moments, with dangerous runs and decent chances, but Isak struggled to make any impact.

Among the many issues that Arne Slot is facing right now, trying to get Isak up to speed must surely be near the top of the priority list.

Meanwhile, if you are Hugo Ekitike - one of the rare positives in a poor Liverpool season - you would be annoyed that Isak is starting ahead of you.

Hopefully, Isak shuts up the critics like me with plenty of goals in the next few weeks, but right now he is a problem that Liverpool have to solve.

Image source, Getty Images

Former Liverpool goalkeeper David James it would not be a "bad season" if Arne Slot's side fail to defend their Premier League title but still pick up some other silverware.

Following Saturday's thumping by Nottingham Forest at Anfield, their sixth league defeat in seven games, some have labelled the Reds as in 'crisis' and pressure is building on head coach Slot.

The summer signings which broke British transfer records but have started slowly are also coming under scrutiny.

"Liverpool do not recruit for one season, they recruit for the future," said James on BBC Radio 5 Live's Football Daily podcast."I believe with the players they signed they can be good, but I was one of those that expected them to be fine from the get-go.

"The test for Arne Slot as manager is whether he can turn this around. Not winning the title this season doesn't make it a bad season.

"Comparatively it does compared with last season but he wasn't expected to win it last season.

"He has already ticked that box if we are looking at the broader picture. The Champions League now becomes more important and winning it would justify everything this season."

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Liverpool are preparing a record £140m bid for 21-year-old Portugal and Paris St-Germain midfielder Joao Neves. (Fichajes - in Spanish), external

Failure to sign Crystal Palace captain Marc Guehi, 25, in the summer has left doubts in the England defender's mind and he is now willing to wait until the end of the season to confirm his future. (Alan Nixon on Patreon), external

The Reds have offered Ibrahima Konate a new contract but the 26-year-old France centre-back, whose current deal expires next summer, is yet to respond amid interest from Real Madrid. (Caught Offside), external

Finally Dayot Upamecano, 27, is out of contract at the end of the season, but Bayern Munich's France defender, who is being monitored by Real Madrid, Inter Milan and Liverpool, has distanced himself from a potential big-money January move to Chelsea. (Metro), external

Finally, Italy international Federico Chiesa could explore a move away from Anfield in January, with the Serie A quartet of Inter Milan, Napoli, AS Roma and AC Milan all keeping tabs on the 28-year-old winger. (Fichajes - in Spanish), external

Want more transfer stories? Read Monday's full gossip column

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Phil McNulty
Chief football writer

Arne Slot is no longer trying to save Premier League champions Liverpool from a stumble.

Saturday's Anfield horror show at the hands of Nottingham Forest was a headlong fall into the abyss.

What most generously believed was a blip, based on the compelling evidence of Slot's first title-winning campaign last season, is now a full-blown crisis for Liverpool and their beleaguered head coach.

Chairman Tom Werner was at Anfield to witness a 3-0 loss to impressive Forest thanks to a performance as poor as anything seen at home in recent years.

No-one can suggest Slot's job is in immediate danger after his deeds following his succession to Jurgen Klopp, but such is this game's brutality that he is now under serious pressure to turn the tide that threatens to engulf Anfield.

Liverpool's manager, whoever it is, is always under pressure to win games. He is under even greater pressure and scrutiny when he loses six Premier League games out of seven. This is as many as in their previous 58.

They have lost two of their past three home league games, as many as in the previous 53.

The cloak of invincibility that Liverpool carried last season has been replaced by a soft - very soft - underbelly. And it has been there since the start of the season.

It takes some doing to spend £450m to make a Liverpool side that strolled to the title last season worse but, based on what has been produced so far, Slot and the club's recruitment team have achieved that feat.

Pundits Wayne Rooney and Rob Green join host Mark Chapman to bring you the action and talking points from Saturday's Premier League fixtures.

Watch on BBC iPlayer here

And listen back to full match commentaries on BBC Sounds:

• Newcastle 2-1 Manchester City

• Liverpool 0-3 Nottingham Forest

• Fulham 1-0 Sunderland

Phil McNulty
Chief football writer

Image source, Getty Images

Liverpool head coach Slot decided to start with record signing Alexander Isak as he tried to fire up his struggling side and finally get the striker's Anfield career going.

Instead, Isak became symbolic of a display which must rank as one of the most limp seen at Anfield in recent years, often conducted in periods of silence as disbelieving Liverpool fans watched the champions crumble once more.

Isak barely touched the ball, never posed any threat, and was actually fortunate to stay on for 67 minutes before he was finally replaced by Federico Chiesa.

He was not, however, the only guilty party on an afternoon when only Mohamed Salah showed any threat while those around him sunk without trace.

The drop in levels from last season, when Liverpool strolled to the title, is beyond alarming for Slot, who has been out of answers to solve their many problems. To suggest they can retain that crown now is a far-distant dream.

Even his substitutions carried the whiff of desperation, striker Hugo Ekitike being introduced after 54 minutes for defender Ibrahima Konate.

Liverpool's fans grumbled but did not turn on their team. It was not only this defeat, though, but the appalling manner of it that will increase pressure on Slot to work out how to get this misfiring, but expensively assembled, team at least showing something of its real form.

Liverpool boss Arne Slot, speaking to BBC's Match of the Day: "Another big disappointment. We started off quite well for the first half an hour. We conceded the 1-0, and we weren't able to play the way we did in the first half hour.

"I don't know. I heard it wasn't offside, so if it's not offside, there's nothing to debate. We created and were waiting for us to score a goal. The set piece changed everything, and they scored two.

"If things go well or things go bad, it's my responsibility. We weren't able to create enough. I tried to adjust a few things, but it didn't work out. We were unable to score a goal. You never know in this stadium, if you score a goal, then things can work out.

On conceding early in the second half: "Of course, it was damaging. It was already hard to be 1-0 against a team blocking everything. It's that simple. In a few days, we have to play in the Champions League again and then play three Premier League games in a short space. Keep your head up and work incredibly hard. We are trying every single day.

"It's always helpful to have experienced and quality players. It's not working out at this moment."

Captain Virgil van Dijk, speaking to Premier League Productions: "We concede too many easy goals. They scored obviously from a set piece again. You can ask if he was in front of Alisson, but it counted, so we're 1-0 down. We were not good in terms of battles, challenges, the fight, too rushed. It's a very difficult situation at the moment.

"There was nervousness after we conceded, but not before. We tried to rush things and that's human when you're in a difficult moment. We cleared the ones before and in the end, we'te in a very difficult moment. We don't get out of it by just speaking about it. It will take a lot of hard work.

"It's a problem. Everyone in the team has to take responsibility as well. Football is a team and everyone has to take responsibility. We have to digest this and take it on the chin. We need to work harder. We have to keep going.

"Everyone is disappointed, like they should be, because losing at home to Nottingham Forest is, in my eyes, very bad. That's the least I can say about it. Those goals we conceded are far too easy and we all have to look in the mirror. I've been at this club so long now and we've been through adversity. We will bounce back but it doesn't happen overnight. I'm not a quitter and we will keep going.

"I can't decide what the supporters are doing if they leave early. I know the fans have been through thick and thin with us. They will be there with us when we come out of this because we will come out of this."

Did you know?

• Liverpool have lost as many as six of their opening 12 Premier League games of a season for only the second time, after 2014-15 (also 6). Indeed, they are just the fourth side to start a season as defending champions in the competition with 6+ defeats in their first 12 games, after Blackburn Rovers in 1995-96 (6), Chelsea in 2015-16 (7), and Leicester City in 2016-17 (6).

• Liverpool have lost back-to-back league games by a margin of 3+ goals for the first time since April 1965 under Bill Shankly.

Listen to Van Dijk on BBC Sounds

Whether you were at the game or following from elsewhere, we want to know what you learned.

• What did you make of Liverpool's display?

• Have your say on Nottingham Forest's performance

Come back on Monday for a selection of your replies

Liverpool boss Arne Slot has made five changes to the side that were beaten 3-0 by Man City in their last Premier League game.

Alisson returns from injury to start in goal, while Milos Kerkez, Curtis Jones, Alexander Isak and Cody Gakpo start.

Liverpool XI: Alisson, Szoboszlai, Konate, Van Dijk, Kerkez, Mac Allister, Gravenberch, Jones, Salah, Isak, Gakpo

Subs: Mamardashvili, Endo, Gomez, Ekitike, Chiesa, Robertson, Nyoni, Ramsay, Ngumoha

Sean Dyche has decided not to make any changes to the Nottingham Forest side that beat Leeds 3-1 last time out.

Nottingham Forest XI: Sels, Williams, Murillo, Milenkovic, Savona, Sangare, Anderson, Gibbs-White, Dominguez, Ndoye, Igor Jesus

Subs: Victor, Morato, Hudson-Odoi, Kalimuendo, Hutchinson, Yates, Cunha, McAtee, Boly