The Dutchman had the unenviable task of following Jurgen Klopp, a manager who was seemingly universally liked by players, staff and fans, and respected by his peers.
Awful 25/26 for Liverpool
To Slot's credit, he quickly made the position his own and left no one in any doubt that the Reds' hierarchy had got things exactly right again.
Fast forward to the present day, however, and the Merseysiders are enduring a pretty awful 2025/26.
10th in the Premier League and 10 points behind leaders Arsenal, Liverpool have both scored and conceded 24 goals in the current campaign. That's only 17 fewer than they let in during the entirety of the 2024/25 season.
Injuries and loss of form to key players haven't helped matters, and the club certainly didn't need the outburst from Mo Salah recently, when he suggested that he'd been "thrown under the bus" by the club.
As a result of his unbelievable tirade, the Egyptian King was left out of the squad for Liverpool's trip to San Siro to face last season's beaten Champions League finalists, Inter Milan.
Szoboszlai settles it in Italy
In what transpired to be a reasonably cagey affair, the match was settled late on by Dominik Szoboszlai, the Hungarian firing home an 88th-minute penalty.
Timed at 87:24, it was Liverpool's latest-ever winning goal scored away from home in the Champions League, and their second-latest penalty winner in the competition, after Steven Gerrard in September 2014 (92:29 v Ludogorets).
No one should be in the least bit surprised that Szoboszlai stepped up either, given that he's arguably been the Reds' most important player this season.
The goal was his third in the competition, more than any of his teammates in 25/26, and also gave him the kudos of knowing he has the joint-third most goal involvements in the Champions League this season.
His five goals and five assists in all competitions so far might not sound an awful lot either; however, he has still been directly involved in more goals than any other Liverpool player during the current campaign.
Work rate and intensity
Furthermore, the importance of some of those goals can't be underplayed. For instance, who can forget his free-kick against Arsenal earlier in the season, which handed the Gunners one of only two defeats to date in 25/26.
More than his goals, however, his work rate and willingness to fill in wherever asked by his manager shouldn't be overlooked.
Already in 25/26, the dynamic midfielder has played in central midfield, as an attacking midfielder and defensive midfielder, and has populated all the right-sided positions - right-back, right midfield and right wing - when asked.
In the Champions League alone, he's made 363 successful passes from 400 attempted, giving him a superb 90.8% completion stat.
17 key passes in the competition add to his resume, not to mention that he's also been successful with 80% of his long passes, defined as a pass of 20 yards or more.
Across all competitions, his contribution is even more marked.
Here, there and everywhere
68 times he's won back possession for Liverpool in the middle third of the field, and another 13 times in the final third, as well as playing 1491 possessional passes to help get his team up the pitch.
498 of those passes have been into the final third, with a pass completion in that area of the pitch alone at 88.1%.
Of his 35 total take-ons, 23 of them have been in the opposition half of the pitch, and of his 363 total ball carries, 197 have been progressive, essentially indicating how often the midfielder likes to remain on the front foot.
Nine chances have also been created by the Hungarian, but if there's one area he could improve upon, it would be his crossing.
36 of the 49 he's attempted in 25/26 haven't found their target, though one could argue that's never really been his forte in any event.
Football watchers are used to seeing him drive at opposition defences and using his not inconsiderable physical attributes to ensure he's able to move deep into enemy territory before either laying off to a teammate, which he's done successfully on 29 separate occasions, or taking his marker on himself before having a shot at goal.
17 of his 22 shots on target have come from outside the box, and opposing teams already know he doesn't need asking twice to take aim from long range.
Defensively, he's won 26 of his 38 attempted tackles too, so Szoboszlai can at least still hold his head high in this difficult campaign.
It's not too much of a stretch to suggest that, in fact, he's also the one carrying this Liverpool side at present.
