Arne Slot's 2026 Liverpool excuses ranked — Wind, xG and Pep Guardiola
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A list of Liverpool coach Arne Slot's excuses from a challenging second season at Anfield as pressure continues to mount on the former Premier League-winning managerArne Slot may be on his last legs at Liverpool(Image: Getty Images)The 2025-26 season hasn't been one to remember for coach Arne Slot and Liverpool, even after spending over £450 million ($611 million) in the summer transfer window.As the Reds plunged out of the Champions League and have struggled to even muster a top-four race in the Premier League, Slot has grown increasingly desperate and has relied on a host of excuses.He has avoided one: the sudden preseason death of Diogo Jota. His Reds lost the previous game 2-1 to Manchester United, and the Dutch manager bemoaned his opponent's lineup tweaks."We've seen Sesko play the last three, four, five or six times, but they go to Liverpool [and] they change the line-up," he said.
"That's not the first time we've faced a team, and they've done that." Brentford took the low-hanging fruit and trolled him post-match, tweeting, "Must have been that unchanged team then."Slot looks on during Liverpool's fall loss to Brentford(Image: Getty Images)After the match, he called the penalty conceded "soft," hit out at the team playing five of six fixtures away, and cited that the summer changes had impacted the team's form. I think it’s not a surprise that it can go a bit like this," he said of the team's four-match losing streak.No.
He cited Pep Guardiola as part of his rationale, as the Manchester City coach's changes were enough to see out a win against Swansea."I saw [Manchester] City’s line-up, and I don’t think they had one starter from the weekend, but it felt as if – if you look at their line-up – that they had played with their 11 starters," Slot said.Arne Slot opted for a changed XI against Crystal Palace in the League Cup(Image: Getty Images)While the Cityzens were missing most of their regular starters, 18-year-old Divine Mukasa started in midfield.No. "Again, we are facing a team that outperformed their xG by a mile, and that is happening constantly," Slot said post-match.He was right for the City game: Guardiola's team scored four goals from 1.97 xG.