LIVERPOOL, England (Reuters) -Liverpool host PSV Eindhoven on Wednesday hoping Europe can provide relief from a domestic nightmare for the Premier League champions that boss Arne Slot called "ridiculous."
Liverpool have lost eight of their last 11 matches in all competitions, including a bruising 3-0 defeat by lowly Nottingham Forest at the weekend that left them languishing 12th in the top flight and piled pressure on their Dutch manager.
"It is ridiculous. It is unbelievable," Slot said of his team's worrying form. "I have said many times you will never find enough excuses for us to perform like this. It's unexpected for the club, for me, for everyone.
"But this is maybe the best club to face it, the harder it gets at this club, the more we are together."
Europe's elite club competition has been a bit of a reprieve for Liverpool, with victories in three of four games, including a 1-0 win over Real Madrid, to leave them eighth on nine points.
Asked if he had to prove himself to the fans, Slot said: "It has nothing to do with a situation like this. Every day, you have to prove yourself at this level. You can't say I won a league or anything like that.
"You have to win the next game, for me and the players," he added. "That's the environment I like to work in. I don't know if I need to prove myself to the fans as well as I have to prove myself to myself."
Slot said the team's defensive frailties had been decisive.
"The amount of goals we concede is the big difference between this season and the last," he said. "The first time (Forest) arrived in our 18-yard box with a set-piece, they scored. It took us a while to recover from that.
"In terms of conceding last season, we had let in zero set-pieces at this time last season. This season, it's nine. From open play, we still generate enough chances ourselves to score goals."
The solution, said Slot, lies in collective responsibility.
"The whole team has to help out defensively in order to get us out of the slump," he noted.
Liverpool face a tough opponent in PSV, who are six points clear atop the Eredivisie with 11 wins in 13 games.They stand 18th in the Champions League table with five points.
"I wouldn't say it's a good opponent to have right now," Slot said. "They had a difficult spell last season and the start of this season, but in the last two or three months they are a winning machine."
The Reds can at least take some encouragement from their recent form in home Champions League games, with victories in their last 13 in either the league or group stage.
(Reporting by Lori Ewing; Editing by Ken Ferris)
