The Title Is Gone – Liverpool’s Real Fight Is for Champions League Football

Anfield’s corridors no longer echo with talk of back-to-back championships. When the 2025-26 campaign kicked off, Arne Slot’s Liverpool were widely tipped to defend the Premier League crown after an encouraging summer rebuild. Yet by mid-February 2026, the mathematics are unforgiving: 11 matches remain, Arsenal lead the table by 16 points, and the Reds are marooned in sixth. Bookmakers have responded by posting Liverpool at 80-1 or longer to reclaim the trophy, a price that effectively closes the debate before it starts.

The focus, therefore, has shifted from silverware to survival. Slot’s side are locked in a four-way scrap for a top-four—or potentially top-five—finish that would secure Champions League football next season. Chelsea and Manchester United currently occupy fourth and fifth, level on points with Liverpool, while the market expects Arsenal (4-11) and Manchester City (2-1) to duel for the title itself. Fifth place may yet carry European elite qualification, a lifeline Gary Lineker believes the Merseysiders can grasp, but the margin for error is razor-thin.

Injuries have shredded squad depth at critical junctures. Alexander Isak, Jeremie Frimpong and Conor Bradley have all spent spells on the sidelines, forcing improvised line-ups and disrupting momentum. Compounding the pain, Liverpool have conceded four 90th-minute winners in league play—late blows that transformed potential points into damaging defeats and underlined a frayed mental edge.

Even a recent uptick in form offers only modest encouragement: three wins from nine Premier League fixtures since the turn of the year is a ratio that must improve if Champions League qualification is to be realistic. Thirty-three points are still available, but every forthcoming fixture now carries knockout intensity.

Slot has labelled failure to reach Europe’s premier club competition “unacceptable,” yet he remains outwardly confident that his position will not be jeopardised should the club fall short. That verdict, however, is not universally shared within the fan base or the boardroom. The fallback route—winning this season’s Champions League—remains mathematically open, but the degree of difficulty is immense.

As the Premier League enters its final stretch, Liverpool’s narrative has pivoted. The dream of retaining the title has evaporated; the imperative is salvaging continental status. With Arsenal and Manchester City contesting the summit, the Reds’ true battleground lies in the congested pocket below, where a single dropped point could spell the difference between European nights at Anfield or Thursday excursions in the autumn of 2026.