Arne Slot could face the sack if he fails to win a trophy and misses out on Champions League qualification, according to former Liverpool striker Michael Owen.
Despite guiding the Reds to a dominant Premier League title in his first season, Slot has struggled to maintain that level this campaign, with Liverpool currently sitting fifth.
While the Premier League is expected to have five Champions League spots, their position is far from secure. They are just one point ahead of Chelsea and three clear of Brentford and Everton with seven games remaining.
Owen believes it is crucial for Slot to deliver success to avoid serious pressure on his job, although he admits he would personally keep faith with the Dutchman.
“If Liverpool don’t win anything and they don’t qualify for the Champions League through the league. Then, yeah, I’d be very surprised if he could, if he could hang on to his job,” Owen told the Liverpool Echo.
“I know he won the league last season. And I, for one, think that he should be given more time and everything else like that.
“But I mean, this is hypothetical, if worst came to the worst and they lost virtually every game, went out of both cup competitions and dropped to sixth in the league. I think everybody would expect him to struggle to keep his job there.”
“There’s a lot that’s gone wrong,” he added. “Like with any football team, you know you could say a million and one different things, you know people have been stopping you in the street for the last 12 years and saying, what’s going wrong at Manchester United, and everybody’s got a different view, and everyone’s got a different view on Liverpool.
“Some people blame the manager, some people blame the recruitment. Some people blame some of the players that have left, whatever, whatever your take is, the style of play or, or whatever. Some people are underperforming this season.
“You’ve just got to bear in mind that it’s tiny little percentages here and there can make the difference between a very good season and an average one.”
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