"Liverpool Face Uncertain Future Even as Premier League Glory Beckons"

" Liverpool Face Uncertain Future Even as Premier League Glory Beckons \r\n\r\nLiverpool are just weeks away from Premier League glory barring a meltdown but there is a palpable sense of anti-climax and uncertainty over the future after a chastening week for Arne Slot's men.\r\n\r\nOn Sunday the anaemic Reds lost the League Cup final to a hungry Newcastle team, just five days after Paris Saint-Germain ended their Champions League campaign.\r\n\r\nLiverpool were out-thought and out-fought at Wembley by the Magpies, who celebrated their first domestic trophy in 70 years in front of their passionate fans.\r\n\r\nSlot was sanguine after the defeat, admitting Eddie Howe's men deserved their triumph.\r\n\"This is part of playing football, especially if one of them is when you face the best team in Europe at the moment and the other one is facing Newcastle, which is a very strong team in\u00a0 England,\" he said.\r\n\r\nThe Dutchman sought to switch the focus back to the Premier League, highlighting Liverpool's yawning 12-point lead with just nine games to go.\r\nSixteen more points would guarantee Liverpool the title even if second-placed Arsenal win every game \u2013 the Gunners' visit to Anfield in May is likely to be academic.\r\n\r\nIt is almost inconceivable that Liverpool will not go on to equal Manchester United's record of 20 English top-flight titles and captain Virgil van Dijk said they do not need extra incentives.\r\n\r\n\"We have nine games to go and I don't think there's any motivation needed,\" said the defender. \"What is needed is we have to realise there is hard work and still a job to do.\r\n\r\n\"If you win five games \u2013 obviously that's a very difficult job \u2013 you're going to be champions of England.\"\r\n\r\nAt the start of the season Liverpool fans would have been delighted to win just the Premier League in the first campaign after the departure of talismanic manager Jurgen Klopp.\r\n\r\nBut their phenomenal form in the league phase of the Champions League fuelled hopes that their season could be truly historic, propelled by the goals of the irrepressible Mohamed Salah.\r\n\r\nInstead, the ruthlessness they showed earlier in the campaign has disappeared, at least temporarily.\r\n\r\nIn their past 10 matches in all competitions, Liverpool have won five, drawn two and lost three, even though one of those was on penalties against Paris Saint-Germain.\r\n\r\nEven Salah's goals have dried up \u2013 he has failed to find the net in four of his past five matches \u2013 and was largely anonymous at Wembley.\r\nThe Egyptian is one of three star players who are out of contract at the end of the season, along with Van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold.\r\n\r\n Contract uncertainty \r\n\r\nSlot has been dogged all season by questions over the future of the players, mostly laughing off attempts by reporters to find novel ways of asking questions over their futures.\r\n\r\nBut their status is still unresolved just two months before the end of the domestic season.\r\nVan Dijk admitted last week he had \"no idea\" if he would remain at Anfield after this season.\r\n\r\nSalah has been linked with a lucrative move to Saudi Arabia while speculation persists that England international Alexander-Arnold will be lured to Real Madrid.\r\n\r\nEven if Liverpool manage to keep one or more of the trio, the sense is that the team are nearing the end of a cycle rather than at the beginning of one.\r\n\r\nVan Dijk is 33 while Salah and goalkeeper Alisson Becker are 32. Stalwart defender Andy Robertson is just a year younger.\r\n\r\nThose players helped formed the backbone of Klopp's teams, who relentlessly hounded Pep Guardiola's all-conquering Manchester City, winning the Premier League and the Champions League under the German.\r\n\r\nFormer Feyenoord coach Slot had enormous shoes to fill when he arrived last year to replace Klopp but did not suffer his second defeat until January.\r\n\r\nBarring a historic collapse, Liverpool will win just their second English top-flight title since 1990 in the coming weeks.\r\n\r\nSlot will relish the moment but will also know that the really hard work lies ahead."

"Liverpool Face Uncertain Future Even as Premier League Glory Beckons"

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