Van Dijk's Clutch Derby Winner Buys Slot Breathing Room, But Liverpool's Troubles Run Deep

Liverpool's 2025/26 campaign has been nothing short of a disaster from beginning to end, with a litany of problems undermining any serious title defence. Yet the Reds finally caught a break at the weekend with victory over Everton—a result their increasingly exasperated supporters desperately needed to see.

The patience of the Anfield faithful with Arne Slot has worn perilously thin as the season has progressed, and frankly, it's hard to argue they haven't got a point. With five matches remaining, two pressing questions dominate the narrative: does Slot survive the summer, and will Liverpool even make the Champions League?

Behind the scenes, the mood appears to be one of cautious backing for the Dutch manager—provided the club secures European football. However, should Champions League qualification slip through their fingers, the clamour for his departure would likely prove irresistible, particularly with Xabi Alonso's name circulating as a potential successor.

Last weekend's results have substantially clarified matters. Liverpool's derby triumph, combined with Chelsea's shock loss to a weakened Manchester United and Brighton's hammering of the Blues, has all but secured Champions League football for the Reds. The cruel irony? Liverpool are limping into Europe not through the quality of Slot's football, but rather because the competition has been so woefully unconvincing.

The victory over Everton perfectly encapsulates this malaise. Van Dijk's last-gasp intervention salvaged three points in a match Liverpool had no real claim to win outright. The captain's heroics have provided sufficient cover for a genuinely mediocre display, though the underlying issues remain glaringly obvious.

Everton themselves were equally poor, and would have claimed a crucial victory had Beto been anything like clinical in front of goal. Liverpool's marquee signings, meanwhile, continued their season-long pattern of underperformance.

Still, at this stage of the campaign, results trump performances. Van Dijk's dramatic winner has taken considerable pressure off Slot and allowed the narrative to shift away from how poorly Liverpool actually played.

Yet beneath the surface, serious concerns persist. Van Dijk is among five Liverpool players identified as symptomatic of the fundamental issues plaguing the club heading into the summer window.

After splashing over £400 million on new arrivals last summer, the upcoming transfer business threatens to be equally transformative—and that's where genuine anxiety sets in. FSG's haphazard approach to this season's preparations hardly inspires confidence that they'll execute a more convincing rebuild.

Multiple positions require either wholesale replacement or significant upgrading. The Everton win may merely postpone the reckoning, especially following recent developments regarding Slot's tenure.

A derby victory provides temporary respite for the manager, but any ceasefire will prove short-lived. One poor start to next season and Slot will find himself under renewed siege, with pressure mounting rapidly.

This scenario bears an uncomfortable resemblance to Erik ten Hag's trajectory at Manchester United. Ten Hag was foolishly backed following his FA Cup success before ultimately being sacked in October 2024—a delayed decision that compounded United's problems throughout the entire 2024/25 season.

Should Liverpool bungle a second consecutive summer transfer window, they risk finding themselves in identical circumstances. A tardy managerial change could easily waste an entire campaign and further damage their rebuilding efforts, turning what should be a fresh start into another false dawn.