As talk of Arne Slot being shown the door at Liverpool intensifies, after the humbling 3-0 home defeat to Nottingham Forest on Saturday, bookies have installed a spectacular replacement as the favourite to replace the Dutchman.
The reigning Premier League champions made it just one win from their last seven league outings to leave them 11th in the table, despite spending a whopping £446million on signings over the summer.
It’s been a dramatic collapse from a Liverpool side who were backed to defend their title before a ball was kicked, but are now facing a real challenge just to finish in the Champions League places.
BBC Sport pundit Martin Keown certainly fears the worst for Slot, admitting after the Forest loss: “We have to give credit to Forest for what they are doing, but the wheels are coming off now for Arne Slot.
“Obviously it was Jurgen Klopp’s team and he has tried to come in and make changes, but he has spent £450m on players and they are going backwards.”
Speaking of the aforementioned Klopp, the legendary Anfield chief is now the bookies’ favourite to return to Merseyside and take the reins once again.
The German spent nearly nine seasons in charge of Liverpool, during which time he won every major trophy available. However, he stepped down in 2024, citing that he was “running out of energy.”
Since then, he has taken on a role as the Global Head of Soccer for Red Bull, overseeing the strategy for their network of clubs. However, during an appearance last month on The Diary of a CEO, he did not rule out a return to Liverpool.
Klopp revealed: “I said I will never coach a different team in England so that means, if [I did return], then it’s Liverpool. So, yeah, theoretically it is possible.”
Klopp is currently the favourite at 4/1, with Crystal Palace boss Oliver Glasner not far behind at 5/1 and Bournemouth’s Andoni Iraola third in the running.
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Slot vows to plot Liverpool recovery
As all the talk surrounding Slot remains around whether he not he can keep his job, the Dutchman is defiant that he can turn things around.
Indeed, speaking after the game, he said: “No one wants to hear me now talking about refereeing decisions if you lose 3-0 at home to Forest. I should look at myself first and my team, but it does show you how a goal can change the momentum of a game. Before I was just waiting for us to score a goal. Afterwards we hardly created anything.
“Of course there is a way out, especially with the quality players we have. No matter if you win or lose when you look back you are always thinking: ‘Where can we do better, where can we adjust?’ but that is something else from doubting yourself.
“I want to emphasise I am responsible for the current losses. You are responsible when you are winning but also responsible when you are losing.
“I can never come up with enough excuses for us to have the results we have. That is far from good enough and I am responsible for that.”
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