Former Liverpool striker Emile Heskey believes the pressure mounting on Reds boss Arne Slot will only be alleviated if he guides the club to trophy success this season.

Sunday’s 2-1 home defeat against Manchester City left outgoing Premier League champions Liverpoolbattling to secure the top five finish that may be required to secure their return to next season’s Champions League.

Anfield legend Jamie Carragher is among those who have claimed Slot’s position may be untenable if he fails to guide the club into Europe’s elite competition this season, with Heskey suggesting Slot will be ‘looking over his shoulder’ as he heads into the final quarter of a season that has been a story of disappointment so far.

“Your position as a manager is always under threat if you go a certain number of games without winning and at Liverpool, you are under pressure if you are not winning trophies,” Heskey told Football365with agamble.com.

“If you don’t make a full-on challenge for a trophy, people ask questions, but we can’t forget that he won a league title last season.

“The fact that he has spent that much money, people look at it and say he has wasted it. So he will definitely be looking over his shoulder in the sense of what’s next for me and what’s next for the club.

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“It has got better in recent weeks, but they are losing points late on in games and while there have been some good signs, he needs to find the right formation.”

Despite the pessimistic mood around Liverpool following their defeat against Man City, Heskey suggests this season could have a glorious conclusion after claiming the Champions League is wide open.

“Arsenal are doing well this season, but is there a great team in European football this season? I’m not sure,” stated the former England striker.

“That’s why the Champions League is wide open this season. There are a lot of great clubs in there, but not a great team, so it’s wide open for anyone to stake a claim.

“Everyone is talking about needing to get into the top five to get into the Champions League, but one of the English teams could win it could be Liverpool.

“No one will be talking about Slot losing his job if Liverpool win the Champions League and it could happen.”

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Finding a balance in the attacking third will be crucial to Slot’s hopes of getting Liverpool back on track and he is convinced Germany international Florian Wirtz can be a focal point of a brighter future for the club.

“You can’t just throw someone into a new league and expect him to hit the ground running,” he continued, referring to German international Wirtz. “It’s a very intense league and different to what he has been used to.

“He’s only 22. You have got to give him a little bit of time and we always knew his quality would shine, so I was never too worried about that.”

Heskey, who won five major trophies in his time with Liverpool, went on to give his verdict on the form of Mohamed Salah, who has struggled to make his mark since returning to the team after he was dropped by Slot at the back end of last year.

Salah was vocal in his criticism of the club and the manager after his omission and appeared to have played his last game for the club after an outburst in the media following the 3-3 draw against Leeds in December, but Heskey believes the Egyptian could still come good in what may be his final season at the club.

“It’s just not clicking for him,” said Heskey of Salah. “You can’t take away from what he has achieved before, so we have to persist with him.

“His numbers have been outstanding, so I have nothing bad to say about him. Sometimes your time is up, but I don’t think we are there with Salah yet.”

Slot is among the favourites to be the next Premier League manager to get sacked, with the availability of former Liverpool midfielder Xabi Alonso following his exit as Real Madrid head coach adding to the pressure building around the Dutchman.