Arne Slot's job at risk if Liverpool fail to qualify for the Champions League this season, says Jamie Carragher
Liverpool are sixth in the Premier League after losing at Bournemouth, behind Chelsea and Man Utd in the race to qualify for the Champions League; Sky Sports' Jamie Carragher has major concerns over whether Arne Slot's side will qualify for Europe's top competition
Monday 26 January 2026 21:15, UK
Jamie Carragher believes Arne Slot's job will be at risk if Liverpool fail to qualify for the Champions League this season.
Slot guided Liverpool to the title last season and then started this campaign with five consecutive victories after spending £450m in the summer, but their form nosedived with five defeats in their next six, which derailed hopes of becoming back-to-back champions.
Liverpool are now facing a fight to qualify for the Champions League after suffering their first defeat in 11 games by losing at Bournemouth on Saturday, which has left them sixth in the Premier League table, a point behind fifth-placed Chelsea and two adrift of Manchester United in fourth.
Carragher has major concerns over whether Liverpool are capable of finishing in the top five.
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"If you don't qualify for the Champions League, having won the league the season before and spent as much as Liverpool, I don't think you've got a leg to stand on," he said on Monday Night Football.
"The real worry I have for Liverpool in terms of qualifying for the Champions League is the three big things that stand out in the Premier League now are set-pieces, counter-attacking football and coming up against low blocks.
"Liverpool can't cope with any of them. What we're seeing is a team in the Premier League that's not suited to the Premier League.
"Once you start seeing what Manchester United and Chelsea have done in the last couple of weeks, you start seeing that Liverpool could actually finish outside the Champions League positions. I really fear for them.
"Once you start fearing Champions League qualification for next season, that's when I think we've got a completely different proposition when we're talking about the manager's job. That, for me, is completely different.
"If we're talking about not winning the league or challenging for the league, that is a collective responsibility, and Liverpool don't win the league every year.
"Not making the Champions League from [being] champions, spending £450m and having the highest wage bill in the Premier League, which is normally the biggest determining factor over where you finish in the league, I think you've got serious questions to ask."
Carra: Liverpool should sign defender this month but not panic buy
Carragher says Liverpool should bring forward any potential summer deal for a defender into this transfer window, but they must not panic buy.
Virgil van Dijk is the only senior centre-back available to Slot, who was forced to play Wataru Endo alongside him after Joe Gomez went off injured in the first half at Bournemouth, while Ibrahima Konate has not played in the last two matches due to a personal issue.
Liverpool missed out on signing Marc Guehi last summer, and he has since joined Manchester City, leaving the Reds short of options.
"Liverpool have always had a policy of waiting for the guy they want. Not panicking," said Carragher.
"Liverpool are short at the back. If they had to pay a bit extra for someone they wanted in the summer, I would bring that forward.
"I'm not interested in Liverpool buying a player they're not fully convinced of.
"Besides that summer, Liverpool's track record in the transfer market over the last seven or eight years has been pretty good. It's not looking as good this summer.
"I'm still backing them to make the right decisions and the right decision is to buy a defender. If Virgil van Dijk got an injury that would write off the season.
"Maybe they've got something up their sleeve, but I don't want them to panic buy."
Slot: Liverpool only have themselves to blame - plus wind, fixtures and injuries
Liverpool boss Slot said his team only had themselves to blame for the 3-2 defeat at Bournemouth despite citing the wind, fixture congestion and injuries after the game.
The loss arrived three days after the Reds beat Marseille 3-0 away from home in the Champions League and despite Slot saying "the only ones to blame are ourselves" during his post-match press conference, the Reds boss was quick to criticise the short turnaround between fixtures, leading to his players "running out of energy" on Saturday.
"Maybe that sums up our season. Every time something else, it's every time something special, how we concede but we concede. The only ones to blame are ourselves," he said.
Slot added: "I think it is safe to say they could've scored the 3-2 a little bit earlier. A few players of ours ran out of energy, and I cannot criticise them for that.
"Two days ago, we had to play an away game in Europe. We are the only team that played Champions League that has two days in between."
Slot was also asked about Van Dijk's error for the opening goal, where he defended his player and agreed that the wind played a role.
He said: "It is not completely fair to Virgil to blame him for the first goal. You can see throughout the game how much impact the wind had. He wasn't the only one who struggled with the wind.
"The second goal was when we were down to 10. After the first goal, Joe Gomez had to go off. He wanted to try, he thought he could, but then he couldn't.
"I tried to scream towards them to put the ball out but we were quite comfortable. When we lost it, it was the opposite. But even if you are down 10, the way we conceded that goal was not specifically because we were down to 10.
"It is just a winger that is surprising our full-back in a situation we could have done better."
Slot continued: "I have to credit my players. You go 2-0 down but we showed the mentality and the fitness to come back against one of the fittest teams in the league - and they only have to play once a week.
"That is not an excuse; a club like Liverpool is used to playing three times a week. But we mainly do this with the same players.
"Last season, we did not have three long-term injuries. As you can see by the line-up, I decided to not play Hugo [Ekitike]. That is not because I don't like him.
"That is because I have one No 9 available for the upcoming weeks and months. With so many matches to play, you have to manage his minutes."
