BBC Sport chief football writer Phil McNulty looks at the questions Liverpool head coach Arne Slot must answer to end the crisis at Anfield.

‘But we need to do better in not conceding goals’ Liverpool host Villa after six defeats in seven games Arne Slot has said the Liverpool hierarchy share his views on the reasons for the team’s slump and he will not abandon an attacking style in search of a way out. The head coach admitted that six defeats in seven games was unacceptable before Aston Villa’s visit on Saturday and denied making excuses for Liverpool’s worst domestic run in 72 years. Slot accepted the pressure was on before his makeshift team exited the Carabao Cup against Crystal Palace on Wednesday. That pressure to arrest the slide, however, is not, he insisted, coming from Liverpool’s owner, Fenway Sports Group, FSG’s chief executive of football, Michael Edwards, or the sporting director, Richard Hughes, after a summer transfer outlay of almost £450m. Continue reading...

Arne Slot’s decision to play a weakened side, with no insurance policies on the bench, backfired spectacularly as Ismaïla Sarr once again made hay against Liverpool 3 min: Ngumoha dribbles in from the left and one-twos with Chiesa, before running into the clumsily-positioned referee. Liverpool and their supporters are a bit miffed about that, given things had otherwise opened up for them. 2 min: Hughes gets back up and prepares to continue. No hard feelings. We go again. Continue reading...

The problems are piling up for Liverpool head coach Arne Slot as Manchester United inflict fourth successive loss, reports BBC Sport chief football writer Phil McNulty.

Could things get any better for Crystal Palace? Now the only unbeaten side left in the Premier League having stretched their run to 18 matches thanks to this dramatic late victory over champions Liverpool, Palace are about to embark on their first European tour when they face Dinamo Kyiv in the Conference League on Thursday and have a manager that is proving to be a bit of a genius. Arne Slot’s expensively assembled side thought they had kept up their run of rescuing late points when Federico Chiesa equalised Ismaïla Sarr’s opener. But the winning goal came from another substitute as Eddie Nketiah’s injury-time sent the home supporters wild as they recorded their first victory against Liverpool here since November 2014. But while Marc Guéhi put in another faultless performance against the club that came so close to signing him earlier the month, above all this was a triumph for the system that has been implemented by Oliver Glasner since he arrived in south London 18 months ago. On this form, Palace are a match for anyone. Continue reading...

Centre-back excelled on debut against Southampton Arne Slot predicts Leoni will be out for ‘around a year’ Arne Slot has confirmed Giovanni Leoni will miss the rest of the season after tearing an anterior cruciate ligament on his Liverpool debut. The 18-year-old central defender, signed from Parma last month for £26m, sustained the injury towards the end of an assured performance against Southampton in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday and immediate concerns over a lengthy layoff have been realised. Leoni, recently called up to the Italy squad for the first time, faces surgery and an extensive rehabilitation period. Continue reading...

⚽ Latest updates from Merseyside derby (12.30pm) ⚽ Live scores | Top scorers | Follow on Bluesky | Mail Barry David Moyes: “This has always been an incredibly difficult fixture for me because I’ve always come up against really good Liverpool teams,” said Everton’s head coach in his pre-match press conference. “I think it’s easier if you’re the team that has the stronger squad, but we’re up against it so we have to go there and fight for everything.” On his opposite number, Arne Slot: “He has done a brilliant job. They have gone out and bought some top players, which has strengthened them again. They have definitely looked to improve even more than last season.” Continue reading...

Liverpool boss Arne Slot enjoys a dramatic birthday as record signing Alexander Isak samples Anfield's Champions League power, says chief football writer Phil McNulty.

Swede is not a classic central striker, but could his signing herald tactical tweaks and what does it mean for Salah? On the face of it, it’s not hard to see why Liverpool would want Alexander Isak. He will not turn 26 until later this month and has scored more than 20 Premier League goals in each of the past two seasons, something matched only by Erling Haaland. But he offers more than just goals; he’s a very modern centre-forward. Thirty or 40 years ago, when 4-4-2 was still the dominant formation, strike pairings tended to come in two forms: either target-man and finisher, or creator and finisher. These days, the very best centre-forwards combine traits of all three. This is not entirely new: the days of Kenny Dalglish and Ian Rush or Niall Quinn and Kevin Phillips are long gone and football has been familiar for some time with players of the ilk of Didier Drogba, Andriy Shevchenko and Radamel Falcao, forwards with pace and some blend of physicality and technical ability. Continue reading...

Isak signs six-year contract and ‘wants to create history’ Deal for Crystal Palace’s Marc Guéhi falls through Liverpool broke the British transfer record to sign Alexander Isak for £125m from Newcastle on deadline day but were foiled in an attempt to end a stunning window with a deal for Marc Guéhi. On a contrasting day for the Premier League champions, Isak underwent a medical on Merseyside before signing a six-year contract worth around £300,000 a week. Liverpool also stepped up efforts to sign the Crystal Palace captain, Guéhi, who had a medical in London in anticipation of joining Arne Slot’s side after Steve Parish, the Palace chair, accepted £35m plus £5m in add-ons for the defender. Continue reading...

Steve Parish decided he could not lose defender for free Oliver Glasner was determined to hold on to club captain Crystal Palace have reluctantly accepted Liverpool’s £35m offer for Marc Guéhi, with the England defender set to complete his medical on Monday and complete his long-anticipated move before the transfer deadline. It is understood that the Palace chairman, Steve Parish, had considered manager Oliver Glasner’s plea not to sell his captain on the final day of the transfer window because the FA Cup winners had not brought in a replacement in time. But having admitted after their victory over Arne Slot’s side in the Community Shield that he would probably have to be sold this month to avoid losing the 25-year-old for free next summer, Parish dramatically agreed to sanction Guéhi’s departure hours before the 7pm deadline. Continue reading...

Head coach says team must improve to defend trophy ‘Most wins were only by one goal and we had to fight’ Arne Slot has said Liverpool should not fall into the trap of romanticising last season’s title triumph as a convincing stroll, when the reality was a hard slog that required a change in style. The Liverpool head coach insists he had to modify his team’s approach this season to implement the improvements necessary to defend the Premier League title. Liverpool won the league with four matches to spare and a 10-point cushion over Sunday’s opponents, Arsenal, but Slot has warned his players not to forget how difficult it was to break clear. The additions of Florian Wirtz and Hugo Ekitiké – and quite possibly Alexander Isak before the transfer deadline – were designed to make Liverpool a more dominant force. Continue reading...

Manager Arne Slot says "he is not too sure he saw a football match" as he questioned Newcastle's tactics during Liverpool's 3-2 win at St James' Park.

Liverpool manager Arne Slot admits he is "relieved" after seeing his side score a 100th-minute winner to beat 10-man Newcastle 3-2 in a thrilling encounter at St James' Park in the Premier League.