Liverpool’s clash with Everton could be the end of the road for Arne Slot – Opinion

Now, the Merseyside Derby awaits.

Everton, under David Moyes, arrives with structure, belief, and a clear plan to inflict pain. Liverpool arrives with uncertainty and a group that the head coach lost months ago. If that contrast plays out on the pitch—and recent evidence suggests it will—then the result may not just be defeat, but a defining moment.

Because losing is one thing.

Being convincingly beaten, in a derby, after the run Liverpool are on—that is something far harder to recover from.

When the Narrative Becomes Inevitable

If Everton were to win, and win well, the conversation around Arne Slot would shift permanently.

No longer would it be about pressure building or time running out. It would become something far simpler.

Inevitability.

Liverpool has already suffered heavy defeats to elite opposition. Manchester City exposed the gap domestically. PSG exposed it in Europe. Everton, in this context, would expose it emotionally—within the city, within the fanbase, and within the dressing room itself.

And that may be the most damaging of all.

Because once belief is lost internally, there is no tactical tweak or motivational speech that can restore it. The players begin to drift, performances become hollow, and the season turns into something to endure rather than compete in.

That is where Liverpool appears to be heading.

Michael Edwards will be watching closely. This is not just about results; it is about trajectory. And right now, the trajectory is undeniably downward. Allowing that to continue risks more than just missing out on Champions League qualification—it risks embedding failure into the culture.

Slot’s tenure, which began with promise and a league title built on the foundations of his predecessor, is now being judged on its own merits.

And those merits are falling short.

If Everton delivers a convincing win, it will not feel like an isolated result. It will feel like confirmation.

Confirmation that the ideas are not working. Confirmation that the players are not responding. Confirmation that change is no longer a question of if, but when.

This derby, then, is more than just three points.

It is a final opportunity to show that there is still something to salvage.

Because if that performance does not come, the decision may already have been made.