Arne Slot: Failure to qualify for Champions League would be unacceptable

“If we don’t have Champions League football it has definitely not been an acceptable season,” Slot, the head coach, said. “When I arrived here we could only sign Federico Chiesa and that was after a Europa League season. So that does have an enormous impact on the way this club is run, that is clear. We are completely aware and I am completely aware of that.”

That was not totally accurate as Liverpool would also have signed Martín Zubimendi from Real Sociedad for £55million in the summer of 2024 when Slot succeeded Jürgen Klopp, but the midfielder pulled out of the deal at the 11th hour. A year later, he joined Arsenal instead.

Still, finance is important and the pressure of improving a run of six wins in 20 league games represents a different experience for Slot in what was already a season like no other after the death of Diogo Jota last July.

Asked if this was his toughest time in the dugout, Slot, the former AZ Alkmaar and Feyenoord head coach, said: “Yeah, that’s fair to say . . . by a mile because all the other seasons I’ve managed there were only positives.

“I don’t think I’d ever lost two games in a row, so it’s an exception this season for me as it is for the players. The players are not used to losing a lot or having a lot of draws. I’m not used to that as well. It’s always more of a challenge after you lose a game of football to get them going again than after a win [and] telling them we were not as good as they might think they were.

“So, yes, this season has been more challenging for me as well, but you also take nice things out of it, [however] weird that may sound because I also look at how much improvement we are making. The main thing as a manager you are always looking for is the results, but it’s also important players and the team improves, because if that doesn’t happen we’re having an even bigger problem over here.

“In my opinion, everyone is now able — except for maybe the players who are injured — to play every three days at an intensity level that is needed at this club, but in the Premier League as well and as a result of that, I think our performances are much, much, much, much better than they were at the start of the season.

“I don’t mean the first six games, maybe, but the period when we started playing a double programme [twice a week] because in the first six games we only had once a double programme with Everton and that was a difficult win. Since we went into that double programme, we started to drop so many points.”

Dominik Szoboszlai’s red card against City means that with Conor Bradley and Jeremie Frimpong injured, Liverpool’s options at right back are severely limited.

Joe Gomez was due to return to training on Tuesday after a hip injury. Midfielders Wataru Endo and Curtis Jones have filled in at full back in the past, while Calvin Ramsay, the 22-year-old signed from Aberdeen four years ago, is not considered first-team ready.

Sunderland v Liverpool

Click here to read article