Perhaps we should call it an early-season stipend.
Liverpool, who are somehow fourth despite dropping points in 11 of 18 Premier League games in 2026, have their fine start to the campaign to thank for their relative comfort now.
To jog the memory, we are referring to how the reigning champions looked set to go back-to-back after winning their first five games of the season.
Already five points clear of Arsenal (who were, believe it or not, neck and neck with Tottenham on 10 points), both Manchester clubs way back on just seven points, Aston Villa in the relegation zone – Liverpool defending their crown felt not just possible, but probable.
Yet here we are, with two games to go: Arne Slot is being asked every week about his future – he says he will 100 per cent be the Reds manager next term – and the boss is rather grateful for that positive first month, which has given him a safety net now.
Had it not been for that perfect start, this stumbling and forgettable campaign would have been rather more disappointing – and consequential. In a league table since that five-match winning streak, Liverpool are eighth. Yet a win at Aston Villa tomorrow would secure Champions League football.
Arne Slot has Liverpool’s fast start to the season to thank for the fact they’re not in bigger trouble now – but his team have barely started a game well all season
In any case, Liverpool’s fast start to the season hasn’t been mirrored by their approach to matches. Instead of a safety net from early exploits, they have found themselves playing catch-up in game after game.
If Premier League games ended on the 15th-minute mark, only six teams would have fewer points. In a table taking only scorelines from minute 15 onwards, they jump from 13th to third.
Liverpool have only scored four goals in the first quarter of an hour of matches, one coming in last weekend’s 1-1 draw with Chelsea that ended a six-game losing streak for the Blues. Last season, the figure stood at nine and it reached double figures in three of Jurgen Klopp’s campaigns.
Gone are the days, though, of Anfield being home to heavy-metal football – Slot has switched it up to slower melodies. In search of ultimate control over games, Liverpool have gone too far and become dull and predictable to watch.
Fans think the same. Just check the stairwells of Anfield after 80 minutes – they are full of supporters making an early exit – or listen to the grumbles as players pass sideways and backwards instead of charging forward as they often did under Klopp.
The slow starts are a key reason why this Reds team appears so soft-centred, with their seven goals conceded in that period often leaving them with work to do in the second half of games. The statistics show Liverpool run the same distances and sprint as much as last year – but they just look unfit.
Even when they do have a bright start to a game, they cannot sustain the pressure. In most matches, they have positive periods, but then fade. Twenty minutes here, 15 there, make one think they have finally clicked – but they inevitably revert to their passive, naive and vulnerable type.
Slot craves control but his current midfield cannot give him that. Last season, Ryan Gravenberch was the best midfielder in the Premier League and Alexis Mac Allister was not too far behind him. The duo were formidable.
Alexis Mac Allister is one of several out-of-sorts Liverpool players who look like they could do with a lie down
Now, with all due respect, the pair look like they could do with a month-long lie down. Mac Allister, 27, is looking rather like Fabinho in his final season, when the Brazilian endured a sudden and steep decline.
Mac Allister, the Argentine World Cup winner, has an uncertain future and has not been offered a new contract. Gravenberch, however, recently penned an extension, while Dominik Szoboszlai is in advanced talks over doing the same.
Slot’s managerial reference point Pep Guardiola once said – only half-jokingly – that he dreamed of having a team of 11 midfielders.
They are the beating heart of a playing style built on control but just look at how City slumped last season when his great duo of Rodri and Ilkay Gundogan were injured or over the hill respectively.
It is similar now with Liverpool: how can they dictate games when their midfield is so feeble?
A midfielder, therefore, must be top of the shopping list this summer alongside the replacement for Mohamed Salah, who will return to the Reds’ squad at Villa Park after a hamstring injury on Friday – though probably only for a cameo appearance off the bench.
Crystal Palace’s Adam Wharton has been considered, though Liverpool would have to fight off other top Premier League clubs. The more energetic Elliot Anderson looks destined for Manchester City. Liverpool have also scoured the continent for options, with several names on the list.
Another reason for their inability to build on positive periods in games is the fact they do not have a prolific forward any more. Salah will soon depart, Hugo Ekitike is out for a sustained period, Alexander Isak is yet to deliver.
Virgil van Dijk is the only outfield player in the Premier League not to have missed a single minute of action this season
Jeremie Frimpong started on the right flank last week with Cody Gakpo down the middle and 17-year-old Rio Ngumoha out on the left. The latter is a frightening prospect for any defender but that front three does not carry as much threat as, say, the great trident of Salah, Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino.
The depth is reduced now, too. If Liverpool needed a goal last season, Slot could turn to his bench and see several attacking options to throw on, but Darwin Nunez and Luis Diaz were sold, and the tragic loss of Diogo Jota continues to hurt the team on and off the pitch.
The creativity and balance that Trent Alexander-Arnold brought to the team has been missed a lot more than many would like to admit after his acrimonious transfer to Real Madrid.
A pacy winger is a priority this summer. RB Leipzig’s Yan Diomande has been watched for some time but is valued at around £85million. Paris Saint-Germain’s Bradley Barcola is a long-term target which they considered last summer but decided against pursuing.
Fitness is undoubtedly an issue, too. Virgil van Dijk is the only outfield player in the Premier League not to have missed a single second of action. Szoboszlai is also among the five outfield players from any club in Europe’s big-five leagues to have played the most minutes in all competitions this season. Injuries have forced the same players to go to the well time and again.
Despite all of their issues and all of the debate this year, Liverpool are one win away from confirming Champions League qualification and will do so with a win at Villa Park tomorrow. Slot will have that early-season form to thank for the comfort he feels right now.
