Graham Ruthven: Liverpool’s drop-off feels increasingly similar to Manchester City’s collapse last season

JURGEN Klopp never lost four matches in-a-row as Liverpool manager. In nine years of being the boss at Anfield, the German never experienced the strife that Arne Slot is going through now. Indeed, this is new territory for the Dutchman who must prove he can turn around the Reds’ declining fortunes.

Sunday’s home loss to Manchester United followed the pattern of several recent Liverpool matches. Despite their attacking talent, the Premier League champions were simply too open against an opponent prepared to play on the break. United sensed an opportunity against a vulnerable rival and they took it.

Having lost four in succession to Crystal Palace, Galatasaray, Chelsea, and Manchester United, Liverpool’s blip is on the brink of becoming a full-blown crisis. Arsenal are now four points clear of the defending champions, with Manchester City also leapfrogging the Anfield outfit after the weekend’s results.

That City are now ahead of Liverpool is notable because the Reds’ struggles are starting to resemble the drop-off that Pep Guardiola’s team suffered last season. They too entered a spiral that they couldn’t get out of as opponents exposed their weakness that only became more glaring as the campaign progressed.

 

Like Manchester City last season, Liverpool have lost intensity. Some argue this can be attributed to the departure of Luis Diaz, who did such a good job of setting the tone for the press from the front. Others claim this is a dip in physicality that was always going to happen at some point.

In defensive transition, Liverpool are simply too easy to play through. City had a similar issue last term, but they could point to Rodri’s absence as an explanation. Liverpool’s situation is more confusing. Slot has been able to pick his best players for the majority of the Reds’ matches so far this season.

Liverpool’s key performers aren’t delivering, giving them another thing in common with City last season. Mohamed Salah has been subdued to start the season, while Virgil Van Dijk has been a shadow of his usual self. This was evident in Sunday’s shock defeat at home to Manchester United when Salah missed a number of chances and Van Dijk was shaky.

No player has a lower dribble success rate (10.0%) than Mo Salah in the Premier League this season (10+ attempted dribbles).😬 pic.twitter.com/zzXVSk6TIw

— WhoScored (@WhoScored) October 19, 2025

“As a manager you constantly face challenges,” said Slot. “When you start and you need to win games, when you go to a bigger club, when you are the successor of Jurgen Klopp and people are saying, ‘this is the biggest challenge you have ever faced.’ Now we have lost four times in a row and that is also a challenge. The life of a football manager is also an ongoing challenge.”

Where Liverpool’s current troubles differ from that of City’s last season is that while the latter waited too long to rebuild their squad, the former might have done too much in one go. Did Liverpool really need to sign as many as five first-team starters in the summer transfer window? Did they need Hugo Ekitike AND Alexander Isak?

 

At the time, it appeared Liverpool were improving from a position of strength. Now, though, their summer business is being viewed differently. From back to front, left to right, Liverpool’s balance as a team is off. They might have the most stacked squad in the Premier League, but they are currently less than the summer of their very expensive parts.

There’s still time for Slot to turn things around. However, the Dutchman is under pressure for the first time in his Liverpool career to prove the value of his own methods and ideas, having largely used Jurgen Klopp’s framework to build around until now. Like City last season, Liverpool might have to reinvent themselves.

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