The one big PROBLEM Arne Slot needs to solve

You can roughly split Liverpool’s season thus far into two parts.

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There were 18 wins in Arne Slot’s first 20 games in charge - a run which smashed records by the matchday.

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That sequence included decisive victories over Manchester United, Chelsea and Manchester City in the Premier League and Bayer Leverkusen and Real Madrid in the Champions League.

Slot - and Liverpool - could do no wrong. Everything just clicked.

After the 2-0 victory over Man City in November, however, things have taken a noticeable downturn.

The leads Liverpool built up over the initial run of games - both in the Premier League and Champions League - means no REAL damage has been visited upon the side’s fortunes as yet. But there are some worrying signs.

Liverpool win 2 of their last 5 matches

Ever since Liverpool threw away a late lead against Newcastle - having fought so hard for a position of command - Slot’s side have been less convincing.

Having won 18 of the first 20 games under Slot, they have FAILED to win eight of the subsequent 19. That is a drop-off in anyone’s eyes.

They drew against Fulham at home, 2-2, against Manchester United with the same score. Then there was a loss to Spurs in the Carabao before another draw against Nottingham Forest. Alarmginly Liverpool have won only two of their last five matches.

Liverpool's dropped lead PROBLEM

They LOST 3-2 in the Champions League to PSV, to Plymouth in the FA Cup and drew with Everton on Wednesday.

Now there are some circumstances that can be explained; it was a weakened team against both PSV and Plymouth and the Everton result could have been secured were it not for outrageous fortune in the final moments at Goodison.

But Liverpool’s adverse results invariably feature dropped leads. Whether it’s the form of Alisson Becker, the initial disruption caused by injuries to Trent Alexander-Arnold and Ibrahima Konate, there is no denying that Liverpool have ceded a certain amount of defensive control in recent months.

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They dropped leads in that Newcastle game, the one against Man Utd, TWICE against PSV and again against the Toffees. That’s six Premier League points thrown away as well as three in Europe.

Against Plymouth and Everton, Slot’s men failed to raise their game to the requisite level, instead being dragged down to the level of their opponents.

Obviously there are factors at play here; Slot doesn’t have adequate strength in depth as the results in Eindhoven and Plymouth show. But winning consistently is a habit that Liverpool have fallen out of and they really need to rediscover their early-season consistency.

A couple of dropped points here and there aren’t going to make a massive difference but it all adds up over the course of a season.

There are 14 matches left in the league - including Aston Villa, Man City and Chelsea away. Any slip-up could well be punished by Arsenal, who the Reds have also got to play.

Nine points have become seven in the blink of an eye and, as we learned on the dramatic day Liverpool beat Brentford and Arsenal lost to Aston Villa, it won’t take much to turn the title race around.

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Liverpool went off like a rocket and earned praise for their performances and results early in the season. But nothing is won yet and Arne Slot’s men need to keep the back door closed.

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Liverpool’s game against Wolves will kick-off at 14:00 GMT on Sunday 16th February.

The game will be broadcast live on Sky Sports Premier League, Sky Sports Main Event and Ultra HD.

Not a Sky subscriber? You can sign up here to watch the Reds live.