Starting at Manchester City in the FA Cup, Arne Slot must show doubters his plan for a team in transition can succeed
There were more important reasons for Jürgen Klopp’s return to Liverpool last Saturday, but it was apposite his presence reminded Anfield of the unshakable bond and belief they once shared, the joy his football brought. Those pillars of Klopp’s reign are weakening under Arne Slot and April may determine whether they are left standing at all.
Two cup quarter-finals in succession should signal a season on the right track for Liverpool; showpiece occasions such as Manchester City in the FA Cup on Saturday and Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League on Wednesday whetting the appetite for what May could have in store.
It could yet bring redemption to a miserable title defence, with Mohamed Salah eyeing the exit a legend deserves and Dominik Szoboszlai on a mission to haul Liverpool to a Champions League final in his native Hungary.
But where recently there was a conviction that anything is achievable, not only under Klopp but in Slot’s title-winning debut season, Liverpool’s inconsistent form does nothing to inspire confidence for the demanding cup assignments. Champions League qualification, so essential to the club’s business model, and well within reach given fifth place in the Premier League is likely to suffice and Chelsea’s deterioration under Liam Rosenior, is also at risk. Six of Liverpool’s seven remaining league games are against teams in the current top nine. A potentially defining sequence of five matches in 16 days ends with the first Merseyside derby at Everton’s Hill Dickinson Stadium.
