Slot's new low with Liverpool and there's only one way out - Sir Alex knows how!

With every new week, Liverpool's agony seems to be hitting a new low, as agony mounts for the Premier League champions, who are now much closer to the relegation zone than to the top of the table.

This is only the second time the Reds have lost six of their opening 12 EPL games, as it happened only in the 2014/2015 season. Moreover, this is the first time Liverpool have lost back-to-back league games (3-0 vs. Manchester City and 0-3 vs. Nottingham Forest by three or more goals since April 1965 under Bill Shankly!

Something is rotten in the state of Anfield! Slot's men are tragically lost in Forest

Last but not least, Arne Slot's men are only the fourth side to start a season as Premier League champions but lose at least six of their first 12 games, after Blackburn Rovers in 1995-96 (6), Chelsea in 2015-16 (7), and Leicester City in 2016-17 (6). Those three teams ended their dreadful post-championship winning seasons as 7th, 12th, and 10th, respectively, but there's one and to this day, one single example of a team that managed to defend the Premier League despite an awful start - Sir Alex Ferguson's Manchester United in the 1996/1997 season.

Coming into the season as holders, the Red Devils won only 19 points in the opening 12 matches (one point better than Liverpool today), yet still managed to win back-to-back titles. They even had one victory fewer to their name compared to the Reds at this point of the season, but what followed was one of those Sir Alex's masterpieces.

After three consecutive losses at the end of October and the beginning of November, Ferguson calmed his side. He started a winning streak that would end in a major and landslide triumph in May 1997, seven points ahead of Newcastle United, Arsenal and Liverpool.

On the wings of their new star, David Beckham, veteran magician Eric Cantona, and their latest signing, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, the Red Devils rose above all the issues to clinch the silverware deservedly.

To make this comparison even more interesting, Ferguson himself had to face two massive disappointments with the latest expensive recruitments, just as Slot did with Florian Wirtz, Alexander Isak, and Hugo Ekitike. In Manchester United's case, those two flops were Karel Poborsky, one of the best players of the EURO 1996, and Jordi Cruyff, the versatile attacking player and the son of the legendary Johan Cruyff.

Fergie, however, didn't bother to revive them during the campaign but used them occasionally and in specific roles. Instead, he concentrated on exploiting the virtues of the prodigious Beckham and the impeccable and capricious Cantona, along with some prolific attackers such as Ryan Giggs, Andy Cole, and midfielders Paul Scholes, Roy Keane, and Nicky Butt.

On the other hand, Slot has a slightly different setup and squad, but features many exceptional players, including Mo Salah, Cody Gakpo, Ryan Gravenberch, and Dominic Szoboszlai.

The crucial question here is whether the Dutch tactician is capable of maximising those opportunities? And how much patience the Reds' board has left for Slot...

Chairman Tom Werner was at Anfield to witness a 3-0 battering at the hands of Nottingham Forest.

"Another big disappointment. How bad that is difficult to measure, but it was very bad," said Slot after the match. "Playing at home, losing 3-0... no matter which team you face is a very, very bad result.

"We started quite well for the first half an hour. We conceded the 1-0 and we weren't able to play the way we did in the first half hour.

"If things go well or things go bad, it's my responsibility.

"We weren't able to create enough. I tried to adjust a few things, but it didn't work out."

Time is running out for the man who won the Premier League title last season with the squad he almost entirely inherited from Jurgen Klopp. A few months and a few of his super-expensive signings later, Slot is heading for a fall. Maybe he shouldn't have fixed what wasn't broken in the first place...

ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE - ROUND 12

Saturday

Burnley - Chelsea 0-2 (0-1)

/Neto 37, Fernandez 88/

Bournemouth - West Ham 2-2 (0-2)

/Tavernier 69 pen, Unal 81 - Wilson 11, 35/

Brighton - Brentford 2-1 (0-0)

/Welbeck 71, Hinshelwood 84 - Thiago 29 pen/

Fulham - Sunderland 1-0 (0-0)

/Jimenez 84/

Liverpool - Nottingham Forest 0-3 (0-1)

/Murillo 33, Savona 46, Gibbs-White 78/

Wolverhampton - Crystal Palace 0-2 (0-0)

/Munoz 63, Pino 69/

Newcastle - Manchester City 2-1 (0-0)

/Barnes 63, 70 - Dias 68/

Sunday

17.00: (3.05) Leeds (3.25) Aston Villa (2.40)

19.30: (1.45) Arsenal (4.70) Tottenham (8.00)

Monday

23.00: (1.80) Man.Utd. (3.70) Everton (5.00)

****odds are subject to change***