On the evening when the clocks officially went back, Arne Slot might have been tempted to set his own to April of this year. Back then, the world looked to have his Liverpool team's oyster as they were crowned Premier League champions with four games to spare on one of the most joyous of Anfield afternoons.

Since then, the tide has turned; a big-spending summer, to the tune of around £450m, has seen an enormous level of turnover in the playing staff and the changes have so far yielded little in return. Slot, whether he is inclined to agree or not, is now facing the biggest crisis of his reign as a result.

Forget talk of defending the title; that ship looks like it is setting sail before Halloween and the champions might find themselves 10 points behind Mikel Arteta's Arsenal by the time they next play, against Aston Villa at Anfield on Saturday evening.

OPINION

OPINION

And perhaps the toughest...