Liverpool are back in action against Leeds United on Saturday, looking to finally put an end to what has been a dire run of form.
The Reds drew 1-1 with Sunderland on Wednesday and would have lost if not for the heroics of Federico Chiesa.
Many supporters have begun to turn on Arne Slot as a result of their struggles, just over six months on from their second-ever Premier League title win.
The Reds last five Premier League results have Arne Slot under pressure. Should a loss at Leeds see him sacked?
Liverpool may need to sack Slot to qualify for the Champions League this season, showing just how far they have fallen in 2025/26.
But what exactly is going wrong at Anfield? Well, Micah Richards and Gary Lineker have discussed exactly that on the Rest Is Football podcast.
Liverpool haven’t replaced Trent Alexander-Arnold
Liverpool sold Trent Alexander-Arnold to Real Madrid at the end of 2024/25.
The full-back was in action on Wednesday and provided a stunning assist for Kylian Mbappe versus Athletic Bilbao.
On the back of that ball, Lineker has suggested Liverpool will struggle to find anyone who can offer them what Trent did.
When speaking about why Slot’s side have declined so much, Richards said: “You know what I think they’re really missing Trent, you know, in terms of his just his creativity.”
Lineker responded: “Well, I don’t know whether you saw, sorry to interrupt you, Micah, but Real Madrid won at Bilbao. Kylian Mbappe scored a couple of goals. One of them was like a wonder goal, his first one, [assisted by] Trent Alexander Arnold, and that’s hard to replace because there’s hardly any players in world football that can do that.”
How long is Trent Alexander-Arnold injured for
The full-back has had a mixed start to life in Spain, with Alexander-Arnold’s future at Real Madrid even questioned earlier this season.
He looked to have turned a corner under Xabi Alonso in midweek, but he is now set to be out for an extended period.
The BBC reports that Trent suffered a thigh injury in the aforementioned win and will now be out for around two months. He has already missed six weeks of 2025/26 with a separate issue.
While their former right-back has fitness problems, one bit of good news coming out of Liverpool is Conor Bradley’s return to action.
The Reds have been playing Joe Gomez on the right of their back-four recently, but Bradley could feature as early as this weekend.
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