Following a successful season, Arne Slot’s second spell in charge of Liverpool has been a disaster. It all began in the worst possible way. The news of Diogo Jota’s death was a blow from which neither the club as a whole nor the team in particular recovered. A loss of this magnitude is bound to affect sporting performance, and this has been the case throughout the season.

It was clear from the start of the season that Liverpool would not be in contention for the Premier League title. Morale was low, and well before Christmas they had fallen out of the race between Manchester City and Arsenal, who ultimately became the new champions. Where they did achieve positive results was in the Champions League group stage, where they secured direct qualification to the round of 16.

In the round of 16, they overcame Fenerbahçe after overturning the defeat suffered in Turkey, but in the quarter-finals they lost both matches 2-0 to Luis Enrique’s PSG, highlighting the current gulf in quality between the two sides. In the FA Cup and the EFL Cup, they failed to reach the semi-finals in either of the two cup competitions.

Liverpool’s results in the 2025/2026 season

• Community Shield: Runners-up
• EFL Cup: Fourth round
• FA Cup: Quarter-finals
• Champions League: Quarter-finals
• Premier League: 5th

Memories of a great first season

Although things have not gone as planned this season, not everything has been negative during Arne Slot’s two-year tenure at Anfield Road. His first season began with the aim of making people forget, as far as possible, about Jurgen Klopp. And he succeeded; the standard of play across the whole team was very high, with Van Dijk and Salah making the difference.

As a result, they deservedly won the Premier League title. Furthermore, apart from an early exit from the FA Cup, where they were knocked out in the fourth round, they competed in all other competitions. In the EFL Cup, they finished as runners-up after losing the final to Newcastle, whilst in the Champions League they were eliminated in the round of 16 on penalties by PSG, the eventual champions.

Everything seemed to be going smoothly, but the loss of Diogo Jota threw a spanner in the works. From then on, nothing went as expected, and only fifth place – which secures a spot in next season’s Champions League – has saved the season. Even the departure of Salah, an icon at Anfield Road, has been marred by the Egyptian’s comments criticising the Dutch manager.

Arne Slot’s honours at Liverpool

• 2025 Premier League champions
• 2025 EFL Cup runners-up
• 2025 Community Shield runners-up