Home wins over Qarabag and Newcastle United could prove a turning point for Arne Slot and Liverpool with the Anfield crowd this season
16:06, 01 Feb 2026Updated 22:50, 01 Feb 2026
A sign on the Kop saluting Liverpool boss Arne Slot during the Premier League match against Newcastle United at Anfield on January 31 2026(Image: Kate McShane/Getty Images)
When the ball fell to Anthony Gordon in front of the Kop on Saturday evening, there was a sense of inevitability among the Liverpool supporters about what was coming next. And not just because of the recent revelation the Newcastle United man, who loves a goal against the Reds, hadn’t scored from open play in the Premier League in more than a year.
For the latest occasion of too many Arne Slot wishes to remember, his team went behind to conceding their first meaningful shot on target in a game.
The sense of deflation among the Anfield crowd was palpable. And small wonder. It was the 10th game in which the Reds had been in arrears in the Premier League this season and, having taken only two points from the previous nine with draws at home to Sunderland and away to Fulham, the portents were against Liverpool salvaging any reward.
For a team that had come from behind on 12 occasions in the previous two seasons to claim Premier League victories, it has been a curious and worrying shortcoming.
True, in four of the seven league defeats this season – at home to Manchester United and away to Crystal Palace, Chelsea and most recently Bournemouth – Liverpool managed to drag themselves back on level terms, only to fail to even hold on to a point let alone complete a comeback.
Yet few could deny their rousing recovery on Saturday evening, inspired primarily by two-goal Hugo Ekitike and fellow summer signing Florian Wirtz, whose burgeoning understanding has been key to revitalising Liverpool’s attack. In the last two months, Wirtz has six goals and five assists while Ekitike has nine goals and three assists.
Statistics, of course, can be bent to fit any narrative but the fact is that after nine defeats in 12 games, Liverpool are now a much tougher nut to crack with last weekend’s dramatic loss at Bournemouth their only reverse in the last 16 matches.
While they haven’t always been pretty to watch, the Reds have become more durable. The last few days, though, could represent a turning point in both the season and the perception of Slot’s immediate future in the hotseat.
It didn’t help that the nadir of the campaign, successive November defeats to Nottingham Forest and PSV Eindhoven, came at Anfield in front of the bewildered glare of regular matchgoers.
The overall downbeat mood in the stadium prompted by those reverses hadn’t really recovered until Wednesday, when Liverpool, for the first time at home this season, cut loose in securing their biggest win margin under Slot by thrashing Qarabag 6-0 to seal a place in the Champions League round of 16.
That the Reds were able to follow it up with another goal-laden display highlights the crowd are starting to believe again and that a previously misfiring attack is beginning to gel. There was enjoyment where there has been precious little this campaign, and Slot was quick to thank the fans for their backing afterwards.
Yes, the fixture list has been a little kinder of late, but that has by no means been a guarantee of increased potency for Liverpool this season.
They have now scored 20 goals in their last six games, a clear shift having netted 19 times in their previous 16 matches. Indeed, the run of 15 goals in the last four games has been bettered just once in the last five-and-a-half years.
Only Manchester City have scored more from open play in the Premier League while Liverpool have doubled their set-piece goal tally in the top flight in their last two matches.
Saturday’s game was the first of four tough encounters that will most likely determine the strength of Liverpool’s claims of securing Champions League qualification through Premier League placing, with it increasingly apparent a top-five place should prove sufficient.
Runaway leaders Arsenal and nearest challengers Manchester City and Aston Villa are, unexpected implosions notwithstanding, unlikely to be caught by any of the chasing pack. And recent results have suggested the race over the final 14 games is down to three clubs – Liverpool, Manchester United and Chelsea – fighting for two places.
All three are in decent form, with United having lost only two of their last 17 league games and Chelsea winning their last five in all competitions.
Liverpool entertain City next Sunday before away games at Sunderland – who are unbeaten at home – and Nottingham Forest, where they have won in the league only once in more than 41 years.
With the Reds, Chelsea and United all still to face each other for a second time this season, those games could be key in determining who eventually claims the expected final two Champions League berths.
For the Reds, those encounters come on successive weekends in May. The challenge now for Slot is to ensure his team are within firing distance by the time they come around. Anfield is starting to stir once more.
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