Title credit gone? Arne Slot given Champions League sack warning at Liverpool as ex-Reds star reacts to ‘eye-opener’ of a season

Slot always faced a tough task on Merseyside after agreeing to inherit managerial reins from Jurgen Klopp. He appeared to be entirely unfazed by that pressure when delivering a 20th top-flight crown to the most ambitious of outfits.

With the foundations seemingly in place on which to build another Reds dynasty, historic sums of money were spent during the summer transfer window of 2025 - with Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak becoming British record buys. Little return has been seen on that elaborate investment.

Hopes of successfully defending the Premier League title faded some time ago, and there is still work to be done when it comes to securing a top-five finish and qualification for the 2026-27 Champions League. Failure to hit that particular target could prove costly.

Heskey admits as much, with the former Reds forward - speaking in association with ToonieBet - telling GOAL: “Very, very important Champions League. Missing out on Champions League could be a tough one to take. He'll need that, to be honest. It's been a very, very interesting season for Arne because all the stuff we praised him for last season has not happened this season at all. It's been an eye-opener for him and for everyone.”

Slot is refusing to throw in the towel. Liverpool are into the last eight of the FA Cup, where they will face Manchester City, and only have a one-goal deficit to overcome in their Champions League last-16 showdown with Galatasaray.

Slot has said in response to those that consider Liverpool’s campaign to be a write-off: “This season, I think it's safe to say and fair to say that this season has been much more of a struggle than last season. But still, we are able to win things, quarter-finals of the FA Cup and in the last 16 in Europe.

“I think we've got a squad that has shown this season already that we've improved. And these players will be able to improve much more in the upcoming years. So, as I said many times, the future looks bright for Liverpool.”

Slot may not be in position to witness that bright future, with Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher another of those to have predicted that change could be on the cards. He witnessed jeers from the Anfield faithful following a disappointing 1-1 draw with relegation-threatened Tottenham.

He has now told Sky Sports: “It's worrying, in terms of what Liverpool do this season. The bigger point is how worrying it is for the manager. I think there's a difference with most support in terms of what we see online compared to the match-going fans. It's not easy for a Liverpool crowd to turn on a manager who has won a title less than a year before, but I felt there was a big shift on Sunday in terms of how the crowd felt about the team and the manager.

“The booing at the end, that was proper booing from a disgruntled and unhappy fanbase. I think it's going to be really difficult now for Arne Slot to get them back. Once you lose that crowd, it's really difficult to get them back.”

Carragher added: “The style of football hasn't helped, but I keep going back to the fact there's players who have come into the club this season for big money, talented players, but are they Liverpool players?

“I'm not just going to throw all this on the manager. He will have been involved in the recruitment, so yes he's accountable for bringing them in, but is he like Jurgen Klopp in terms of pressing all over the pitch? No. He wanted a bit more control, but we saw that with the right players he had last season, they could still win the league.

“Now he's got a different profile of player, and it's not equipped to do what they need to do in the Premier League. But as we know with every team, the manager carries the can.”

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