Liverpool have had a special season, but recent results have proven the view that they are far from reaching the top.
The Kop have lost just one of their 27 games in all competitions before January 2025. However, they have been beaten six of their 22 games since then. Of course, two of those defeats away to PSV in the Champions League and Tottenham in the first leg of the Carabao Cup semi-finals) did not mean much.
Fatigue has been blamed for Liverpool's decline, although Slot has denied it after the defeat at Craven Cottage. According to Opta, only 10 players in the Premier League this season have started all 31 matches so far. And three of them are Liverpool players: Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Ryan Gravenberch.
As for Gravenberch, there are some arguments that the increased workload has affected him in recent weeks. The 22-year-old has played 2,657 minutes in the Premier League this season, more than double the 1,120 minutes in the 2023-2024 campaign. Wataru Endo's lack of a league start reflects Slot's trend of relying on a relatively small group of players.
Of course, when the legs are tired, it is understandable that the Kop players' performance has declined. But it seems that their spirit was also severely affected.
After all, except for Federico Chiesa, who has been less noticed, this is a group of Liverpool players who had a surprising collapse under Jurgen Klopp a year ago. Their recent poor performance against Fulham stemmed from tension. If so, this is something Slot and his players must quickly extinguish. They cannot let the "ghost" of last season return to haunt them in the coming weeks.
It is no coincidence that Liverpool's decline coincides with a rare period when Salah failed to score. The Egyptian has had one of his best seasons in the Premier League, scoring 27 goals and providing 17 assists. Salah contributed to 61% of Liverpool's total 72 goals in the tournament.
However, Salah has not scored in the last 4 matches in all competitions. His most recent Premier League goal came from the penalty spot against struggling Southampton in early March.
While Diogo Jota scored the decisive goal in the Merseyside derby and Diaz created an impact when coming on as a substitute against Fulham, Liverpool's attacking style of play was much less convincing as Salah's influence weakened. Slot must hope that his watchful spell can regain his best form from now until the end of the campaign.
