Former Liverpool striker John Aldridge has warned the club’s current squad they will become a “laughing stock” if they somehow miss out on the Premier League title this season.
The Reds’ charge to be crowned champions stalled over the weekend, with Arne Slot’s men falling to just their second league defeat of the season at Fulham. Despite the 3-2 reversal, Liverpool is now a maximum of 11 points away from securing the title thanks to Arsenal only managing to pick up a point at Everton.
Nevertheless, one or two concerns are starting to creep in after a poor run of results across all competitions. The Reds have lost three of their last four games, including the Champions League defeat to Paris Saint-Germain and the Carabao Cup final loss to Newcastle.
That’s enough for Jamie Carragher to have suggested Arsenal and Mikel Arteta may still believe they can beat Liverpool to the title, despite sitting 11 points behind with just seven games remaining.
And Aldridge, writing in his column for the Liverpool Echo, is worried that rivals may have now got the measure of Slot, and what that could mean should the Reds slip up again.
“I wonder if teams and managers have now got to grips with the way Arne Slot plays. It’s a possibility,” Aldridge said. “He’s not rotating much and knows the players more, but teams are mixing it up a bit against us. They look fresh, are harder to predict and we’re struggling a little bit.
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“Fulham mixed it up a little bit against us and it paid off for them. So we are asking all these questions of Liverpool at the moment. Yet despite it all, we still sit top of the table by 11 points. It’s just as well that Man City have fallen by the wayside this season otherwise we’d really be struggling.”
Aldridge added: “It’ll be embarrassing if Liverpool don’t win the title now. We’ve just got to hope that doesn’t happen.
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“The players have got to look at that. If we were to collapse, and Arsenal beat us at Anfield, it’s back on for them. It could even end up becoming Arsenal’s to throw away, depending on what we do in these next four games.
“They’ve got to realize this, the players. We would be a laughing stock if we throw this away. I’m not saying that will happen, but the players have got to realize these ramifications. West Ham now becomes the most important game of the season.”
Liverpool.com says: It’s definitely not time to panic, and nor will it be if Liverpool drops points against West Ham. It is normal to be a little concerned with how things are going at the moment – it does feel like we might be getting something of a repeat of last year, only this time the Reds have the cushion of a healthy lead, which should see them through to the title.
