What Jurgen Klopp has said about Liverpool return as shock favourite to replace Arne Slot emerges

Jurgen Klopp has been installed as the shock favourite to replace Arne Slot should Liverpool part company with their under-fire manager.

The Reds” catastrophic Premier League title defence hit a new low on Saturday following a 3-0 defeat against relegation haunted Nottingham Forest at Anfield.

A sixth loss seven league matches has left the defending champions 11th place, the first time in more than a decade the club have been in the bottom half of the table.

Skipper Virgil van Dijk usually offers a level-headed assessment after matches but the latest defeat prompted words like ‘mess’ and ‘panic’.

‘We are definitely letting him (Slot) down but we’ve let ourselves down as well,’ he said. ‘You look at yourself first and then you help each other, you help each other get out of this mess because at the moment it is a mess – that’s just a fact.

‘As the champions we can’t be in the situation we are in right now. What are we going to do about it? We’re going to try to turn it around and that’s the mentality everyone should have.’

Van Dijk admitted there was anger in the dressing room but after the first of seven matches in 22 days he said this was no time to be turning on each other.

‘It is easy to point fingers but you have to do it together,’ he added. ‘What I want is for everyone to take responsibility on the pitch. We have to do that in order to push each other, to make each other better.

‘It’s easy to maybe just think about your own situation rather than the collective side when things are not going well.’

Despite the skipper’s call for unity, Slot’s position is now in question despite masterminding last season’s title-winning campaign which was immediately followed by a £500million spending spree.

What Jurgen Klopp has said about Liverpool return?

Bookmakers BetVictor have installed Slot’s predecessor, Klopp, as the favourite to replace him in what would represent an astonishing return to Merseyside.

Asked recently about the prospect of him ever managing in the Premier League again Klopp, who is currently the Head of Global Sport for Red Bull, said: ‘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.’

Slot, meanwhile, took full responsibility for a ‘very bad’ performance against Forest who thoroughly deserved their win.

Murillo, Nicolo Savona and Morgan Gibbs-White scored as Forest recorded their biggest win at Anfield, inflicting Liverpool’s heaviest home defeat since losing 4-1 to Manchester City in 2021.

‘How bad that is difficult to measure but it was very bad. Playing at home, losing 3-0 no matter which team you face is a very, very bad result,’ Slot said.

‘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 excuses for us to have the results we have. That is far from good enough and I am responsible for that.’

Defeat dropped Liverpool to 11th in the table and should Everton win at Manchester United on Monday their Merseyside rivals would move ahead of them.

Slot insists, however, he will find a way of arresting a slide of eight defeats in 11 matches in all competitions.

‘Of course there is a way out, especially with the quality players we have,’ he added. ‘No matter if you win or lose, if you make a line-up or make substitutions when you look back you are also thinking ‘Where can we do better, where we can adjust?’ but that is something else from doubting yourself.

‘In my opinion it was a good start from us. I haven’t seen us creating so much in the opening half-hour maybe the whole season. We were able to create a lot and the first time they arrived in our box they scored a goal.

‘It is a very difficult cocktail to drink if you miss out on your own chances and every time you concede one the ball goes in.’