Eintracht Frankfurt vs Liverpool live: Arne Slot desperate to end losing streak in Champions League clash | OneFootball

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'What is expected of you' - Slot demands Liverpool response at Frankfurt

Liverpool are desperate for their run of successive defeats to come to an end as they travel to Eintracht Frankfurt in the Champions League.

After winning seven on the bounce to start the new campaign, the reigning Premier League champions’ losing streak now sits at four, with Sunday’s gut-wrenching home defeat to Ruben Amorim’s struggling Manchester United acting as the latest blow.

Slot is now tasked with turning his side’s fortunes back around in what is the hardest period he’s faced since succeeding Jurgen Klopp in the Anfield dugout.

They take on a Frankfurt side who have endured a mixed start to the season as well - winning as many games as they’ve lost in the Bundesliga - but one that will be eager to capitalise on Liverpool’s collapse and slay a giant tonight.

Why Liverpool are lost thanks to a £450m mess of their own making

Go back a year and Liverpool were in the middle of a run of eight straight victories, near the start of a spell of 15 victories and one draw in 16. Arne Slot’s every decision seemed to pay off. He was prospering by not buying. He proved ideally suited to Jurgen Klopp’s players.

Twelve months on, the struggle is to adjust to his own. Winning without spending back then, he is losing after paying record sums now. Slot has gone from eight consecutive victories to four defeats in a row. It is uncharted territory: for him personally, and for Liverpool in the decade since Klopp’s appointment.

Slot’s honeymoon period included a demolition of Manchester United. His worst run so far culminated in an Anfield loss to them. Liverpool can sense a rapid shift in fortunes. “We are coming from a season where everything was unbelievable,” noted Virgil van Dijk. Now this stretches credibility. At the least, they have offered belated vindication for Klopp: he long railed against the notion that the transfer market was the answer to everything. Now Liverpool have spent £450m and, from having a team notable for their clarity of thought, seem caught in confusion.

Read more from Richard Jolly:

Why Liverpool are lost thanks to a £450m mess of their own making

Arne Slot has struggled to integrate the Reds’ new signings, with a painful fourth straight loss against bitter rivals Manchester United compounding the problem

Jurgen Klopp baffled by Liverpool’s £450m spending spree

Jurgen Klopp has admitted that he was stunned by Liverpool’s summer spending spree that saw them splash out a staggering £450m on new players.

“I had no clue that this is possible,” he said. “Nobody ever told me that it’s possible that we can spend like that.

“My last year at Liverpool, we obviously (had) the Adidas deal, the new stadium, all these kind of things - they earn more money. But never ever I could have asked for that amount of money, but that’s not a problem. In that time it was not there, no problem at all.”

Klopp baffled by Liverpool’s £450m spending spree

Klopp was stunned by Liverpool’s spending spree this summer having previously stated that his former side ‘cannot compete’ financially with teams like Manchester City

Will Castle22 October 2025 18:00

How Liverpool can solve their Alexander Isak-Hugo Ekitike conundrum

Liverpool had become champions and Eintracht Frankfurt had qualified for the Champions League but thoughts soon shifted to what came next. Or who came next, anyway. Arne Slot spoke to Hugo Ekitike at the end of last season. The caller can’t have come as a surprise to the striker. Liverpool had been in contact with his camp since January. Liverpool were preparing for Darwin Nunez’s departure. Ekitike had seen his sidekick Omar Marmoush leave in the winter window. Frankfurt may have supplanted Borussia Dortmund as the Bundesliga’s experts in identifying, improving and profiting from talent. The guarantee is that they will sell, if the price is right.

Slot can be a persuasive salesman; or perhaps his club afforded him the best pitch. Manchester United made a late approach and Liverpool could enjoy taking one of their targets. Newcastle made a bid, before Liverpool swooped: their interpretation was that the Magpies only turned to Ekitike after missing out on Liam Delap and Joao Pedro, though Eddie Howe’s interest in the Frenchman dated back three years, to his first window in charge. Regardless, Ekitike preferred Liverpool. “This was the best choice,” he said three weeks ago. “The champions of England. They have great players and history. It just fitted for what I was looking for.” He joined in July for an initial £69m.

A first return to the Deutsche Bank Park could have had the makings of a triumphant affair. Ekitike scored four minutes into his Liverpool career. He struck in his first three games for the club; not since Daniel Sturridge had anyone done that for Liverpool. Blessed with pace, brimming with talent, he was an instant crowd favourite. And yet he may be back in Frankfurt as a bit-part player.

Richard Jolly writes ahead of Hugo Ekitike’s return to Frankfurt:

How Liverpool can solve their Alexander Isak-Hugo Ekitike conundrum

Ekitike scored in each of this first three outings for Liverpool but his momentum has been halted by competition with Alexander Isak

Richard Jolly22 October 2025 17:45

From furious hand gestures to a meek surrender: 90 minutes watching Diego Simeone

By the 89th minute, powerless in the face of a second-half blitz which had completely overpowered his team, Diego Simeone finally sat down. Briefly, it should be said. Trudging back five yards from the touchline to the dugout, eyes watering, the bombastic Atletico Madrid boss muttered all sorts of incomprehensible Spanish, drank a sip of water and quickly leapt back up, wiping his face in disbelief. He never leans back on his seat.

This is not how it began in the match against Arsenal on Tuesday night. Nor was it how it ended the previous time Simeone was on English shores; last month, after conceding a last-minute deciding goal at Anfield, Simeone confronted a group of goading Liverpool fans and had to be hauled back by security staff. Inevitably, he was sent off and received a one-game touchline ban in the Champions League.

Kieran Jackson analyses Diego Simeone in Atletico’s 4-0 defeat at Arsenal:

Furious referee protests and a meek surrender: 90 minutes watching Diego Simeone

It took just six minutes for Simeone to lose his rag on Tuesday; yet Arsenal would have the last laugh

Kieran Jackson22 October 2025 17:30