This video can not be played Liverpool 'struggling' due to lack of players - Slot When Liverpool came to Brighton last May, the away end was in party mode at the full-time whistle despite the defeat as they sang and celebrated with inflatables and balloons. By then, Arne Slot's side had won the Premier League title and a trip to the south coast was another excuse to enjoy themselves. And rightly so.

Ten months on, Liverpool tasted defeat against Fabian Hurzeler's side again but this time the away end was half empty by the time Slot made his way over to the travelling supporters. Their latest defeat is the 10th in the league this season, making it only the seventh time the reigning Premier League champions have lost 10 or more games during their title defence.

Since starting the campaign with five wins on the trot, Slot's side have won just nine of their next 26 games in the league. With that kind of form, Liverpool do not look like a team that has it in them to qualify for the Champions League. It is all but certain that the Premier League will get an extra place in the Champions League and Liverpool currently occupy that fifth spot, though they have a game in hand on sixth-placed Chelsea who play later on Saturday.

Much had been made in the build-up about the 62 hours Liverpool had to prepare between their Champions League win over Galatasaray at Anfield and this trip to Brighton. With Alisson and Mohamed Salah forced out with injuries, Liverpool's situation worsened when striker Hugo Ekitike was forced off early on.

"What went wrong started off with the lead up to this game," Slot said. "As so many times has happened this season, when we played a very good game [against Galatasaray] and we thought we could bring that level to the next game, or even better, we had Mo Salah injured, we had Alisson injured and, after two minutes, Hugo Ekitike out.

"That has happened to us so many times this season and what happened to us a lot this season is that the first chance of the other team immediately went in. But in the second half Brighton were the better team and deserved to win." Slot was the first to say that his side deserved to lose here and it would hardly have surprised him. Of their 10 Premier League games this season following a Champions League fixture, Liverpool have lost five of them.

Questions have to be asked about fitness and, despite spending £450m in the summer, Liverpool lack proper squad depth. "It makes complete sense if you win the league last season and you spent £450m that the expectations are high, and those expectations were high for the pundits, for the media, for me, for the fans," said Slot. "At our club we're also looking at the situation and the challenge we had during this season, and then we might be a bit more realistic [about] why the season has gone why it is gone. But still it's not good enough no matter how much excuses I can come up with - it's still not good enough for the position we're in right now."

Liverpool have conceded 42 goals in the Premier League this season, more than in each of their past two campaigns. Liverpool's only goal at the Amex came from a Brighton mistake and, even after going behind again in the second half, Slot said that the Seagulls were more likely to make it 3-1 rather than his side earning a draw.

"This is a backwards step for Liverpool," said former Premier League goalkeeper Rob Green on 5 Live. "You just don't know what you are getting from this team. The spine of the team is not there. They are looking around saying 'what's going on?'. They can't find an answer." As ever, it would be hard to pin the blame entirely on the manager but, ultimately, it is his team that are regularly underperforming.

For a man who has always emphasised his desire to play good football, he cannot have enjoyed what he has seen for bulks of this season. Liverpool were superb in midweek against Galatasaray but have been woeful in their past three Premier League games picking up just one point against Wolves, Tottenham and Brighton.

Those 62 hours between Galatasaray and Brighton are gone and it is now about the next fortnight, where most of the Liverpool players will be on international duty. Slot will know that it may well go a long way to defining his future.

"Let's hope the national team coaches help us out by not playing 180 minutes over two games," he pleaded on Match of The Day. When they come back, Liverpool travel to Manchester City for their FA Cup quarter-final against Pep Guardiola's side before a trip to Paris to take on Paris St-Germain in the same stage of the Champions League. The return leg at Anfield is six days later.

"If they go and play like that in Paris it could be 10-0," said former Liverpool left-back Stephen Warnock on 5 Live. "That's how bad Liverpool were today. Brighton weren't clinical and tried to walk it in, but PSG will be clinical. It's very, very worrying for Liverpool"

With seven top-flight games left, Liverpool's tally of 10 Premier League defeats this season is already their most since 2015-16. When BBC Sport asked Slot if it was a worry that his side is making the wrong kind of records, he responded: "Of course. It says a few things. First of all, it says what a great team Liverpool have had in the last 10 years and a great manager as well. I could come and tell you all the reasons why we've lost this season 10 times. One of them is late goals. Today sums it all up in terms of our injury problems - to go without three great goalscorers [Ekitike, Isak and Salah] is never helpful for any team. But it's not my job to make excuses. My job is to find answers and that's what I tried to do again today.

Slot has already conceded that it would be unacceptable if Liverpool are not playing Champions League football next season, even if he stays in the job. And the reality is that he needs answers quickly or else those unwanted records may no longer be his only worry.