Liverpool have started the 2025/26 season with six wins from six games. They sit alone atop the Premier League, already five points ahead of their closest competitors, Arsenal, Spurs, and Bournemouth. So, Liverpool fans have much to be happy about in terms of outcomes, but they might have reason to be concerned about the input.
Much has been made of the way Liverpool have won their games this year. Five out of the six games have been one-goal victories, and their first five were decided in the last ten minutes. There has yet to be a performance from the Reds this season that has put a game out of doubt in completely convincing fashion. They are yet to be firing on all cylinders and have actually been quite disappointing in some games like away at Newcastle where they struggled to put away a team with 10-men and only did so in the 100th minute. Every game so far has been a nail-biter and although they have won every match, these kinds of wins might dry up eventually.
Some will say that these are the kinds of wins that make championship-winning teams, and that sentiment is definitely valid. If a team that isn’t playing very well can still find ways to win games in spite of that, they are set up to do very well as they gradually ramp up the quality of their performances.
But when exactly will Liverpool start to ramp up those performances? And what is the indication that things will change? I’m not sure they are as clear as people are making them out to be. Some people say that it’s only a matter of time until Florian Wirtz begins to click in this Liverpool side, but there is a real chance that his style of play is simply not fit for either this Liverpool team or the Premier League on the whole. His seemingly big improvement against Atletico Madrid in mid-week is an indicator that he may indeed be better fit outside of the Premier League.
Some will argue that there are an abundance of new signings that will take time to adjust to their new surroundings. And while that is probably true, given the fact that there have been six new first team players (Wirtz, Ekitike, Isak, Kerkez, Frimpong, and Ngumoha) who have featured this season – it is not a given that they will make effective transitions. Milos Kerkez has been one who has struggled at times, so too has the aforementioned Wirtz, and we are yet to see whether Isak will adapt to his new team.
The discouraging aspect of Liverpool’s start to the season is not so much how the players have played or how they haven’t gotten out of second gear yet; it is that the way they have won their games is not sustainable. Yes, it is a testament to their character and championship mentality that they have pulled through late in these first six games but those are not reliable ways to win football matches.
Over the course of a full season, the best teams usually end up at the top of the table because the sample size is so big that the cream is given ample time to rise to the top. The same cannot be said of cup competitions though because their one/two-legged elimination games give good teams less time to show their superiority. We see it every year, a minnow knocking out a big club in the EFL or FA Cup – with this year’s example being Grimbsy Town beating Manchester United in the second round of the EFL Cup.
When Liverpool allow games to be competitive going into the last ten minutes of games, it matters less and less that their squad is far superior to their opponent’s because they have so little time to make that superiority felt. It is almost as if they are playing a series of cup matches. With ten minutes to go, anything can happen, and this is why Liverpool’s start is a little discouraging. Since every game has been like this, we have reason to believe it will continue; and if it does, there’s a good chance that it will be Liverpool on the receiving end of a 90+3 winner or 88th minute set piece goal since these short periods are just so unpredictable. In order for them to truly make the most of the unreal squad they have, they need to make the most of the entire game, not just the last ten minutes. Should they begin to put games out of reach in the first 70 minutes, there is no cause for concern as the game becomes far more predictable and controllable.
But it’s not all doom and gloom. This start for Liverpool is also very encouraging because it shows that the team is not complacent or lacking in mental toughness. Yes, anything can happen in the last ten minutes of a football game but in those moments, mental strength and discipline are what gives you the edge. It is why Real Madrid somehow managed to come back from so many late deficits in the Champions League in recent years – they don’t play as if they are entitled to win and know they have to go and win it themselves.
So, for Liverpool fans, they can be relatively certain that there are far better performances to come from their team – after all they have one of the best squads in all of world football and had better showings last year with less depth and quality. But now they can also be confident that if a game is close and nervy, their team has the mental strength to nick a winner or hold onto a win.
And an added bonus of this perfect start is that they have picked up results that they didn’t manage to attain last season. Last year, against Newcastle at St James Park, they drew 3-3 as they conceded a 90th minute equaliser and at home to Arsenal, they drew 2-2. In both games this season, the performances were not very good, especially against Newcastle, but they won both games and now have 4 more points from those fixtures than they did last year. In both years, under Arne Slot, Liverpool have played a more controlled and composed style of football than under Jurgen Klopp and it allows for them to remain in games even when they don’t play so well. Under Klopp, if the team was off, the result could get ugly; and if the team was on, the result was ugly, just for the opposing team. With Slot, that volatility seems to have been neutralised and in his second season he has even made improvements to that style allowing for those draws last season to be traded for wins this season.
And this has been a theme with Liverpool over the years it seems. When the team is extremely exciting and frantically potent like in 2017/18, 2018/19, or 2021/22, they aren’t able to convert that sporadic high standard into league victories. But when the team is more pragmatic and controlled like in 2019/20 or 2024/25, the league victory is much easier. That explains why in those exciting 17/18, 18/19, and 21/22 seasons they performed very well in cup competitions, reaching the Champions League final in all three years and winning it in 2019, whilst in the more controlled years, they won the Premier League both times. In previous years, Liverpool may have lost those games against Newcastle and Arsenal due to their hectic style of play, but under Arne Slot, they have found ways to get results no matter how well they perform.
Ultimately, Liverpool have six wins from six games so they can be very very happy. But as I outlined, there are some reasons to be skeptical about the sustainability of their start to the season. Nonetheless, the start also bodes well for the remainder of the season because they have created a buffer that will allow for their star-studded squad to gradually come into their own and have also picked up wins in fixtures that they were unable to during their league-winning campaign last season. They also seem to have developed a mental toughness that will give them an edge in close games which should ease their fans’ nerves in those inevitable close games. So, yes the nature of Liverpool’s wins are cause for concern but they are also a reason to be very excited about the remainder of their season too.
Watching Liverpool is a wild experience