In elite football you often live and die by the sword. For Arne Slot, the small group of trusted lieutenants who got Liverpool to being Premier League champions-elect are the same stars who contributed to coming up short in the Carabao Cup and Champions League.
After a bruising 120 minutes followed by the psychological let-down of losing on penalties to Paris Saint-Germain, his team looked a shadow of themselves four days later against Newcastle. As Slot said, it was probably the worst performance of the season.