LONDON: Liverpool were tipped to turn the Premier League title race into a prolonged coronation this season, but instead the champions find themselves mired in an unexpected crisis after their latest shock defeat. The Reds were beaten 3-2 at Brentford on Saturday as they crashed to a fourth successive league loss. Coming hot on the heels of a first defeat against Manchester United at Anfield since 2016, Liverpool suddenly look more vulnerable than at any time in Arne Slot&#39;s reign. Liverpool are languishing in sixth place after four defeats in their first nine league matches, with leaders Arsenal having seizing their mantle as the top-flight pace-setters. Liverpool have already lost as many Premier League games this season as in their entire title-winning campaign. It is a remarkable fall from grace after Slot&#39;s side romped to the trophy last season, finishing 10 points clear of second-placed Arsenal and wrapping up the title with four games to spare. Fuelled by a &pound;446 million ($593 million) spending spree in the close-season, Liverpool started the campaign as odds-on favourites to extend their reign with a record 21st English title. But Liverpool&#39;s decision to overhaul their already battle-tested squad has backfired. They twice smashed their transfer record in the summer with blockbuster deals for Bayer Leverkusen playmaker Florian Wirtz and Newcastle striker Alexander Isak. Slot also brought in Hugo Ekitike, Giorgi Mamardashvili, Milos Kerkez and Jeremie Frimpong, while Trent Alexander-Arnold, Luis Diaz, Darwin Nunez and Jarell Quansah were among the notable departures from Anfield. There were early warning signings that Slot&#39;s revamp would not go smoothly when Liverpool were beaten on penalties by Crystal Palace in the Community Shield. Although the Reds won their first seven games in all competitions this term, they rarely impressed and needed late goals to emerge victorious in six of those games. Palace gave Liverpool a dose of their own medicine with a late goal in a 2-1 victory that finally exposed the flaws in Slot&#39;s team. Defeats at Galatasaray and Chelsea followed before United emerged from their own crisis to plunder a 2-1 win at Anfield. By the time Brentford punished Liverpool&#39;s sloppy defending to leave the champions in turmoil, Slot was looking increasingly bewildered on the touchline. &lsquo;Nowhere near good enough&rsquo;Slot&#39;s issues are spread throughout the side, with Wirtz looking completely out of sync, while British record signing Isak has managed just one goal in eight appearances. Mohamed Salah has been anonymous since late last season and Slot has already dropped him twice this term in a bid to spark the Egypt forward into life. Frimpong and Kerkez have struggled at full-back and even captain Virgil van Dijk has been below par as Liverpool find themselves targeted by a barrage of long balls. The tragic death of Diogo Jota in a car crash during the close-season has also taken its toll. But most alarming for Liverpool fans is Slot&#39;s admission that he has no answers to the pressure being applied to his crumbling defence by opponents&#39; direct tactics. &quot;Teams seem have a certain playing style against us, which is a very good strategy to play, and we haven&#39;t found an answer yet,&quot; he said. &quot;You cannot even compete, which we don&#39;t do at the moment, because we simply concede too many goals. &quot;It definitely also has to do with if you change quite a lot during the summer, then I think it&#39;s not a surprise that it can go a bit like this. But I didn&#39;t expect it to go with four losses in a row, let that be clear.&quot; Liverpool are only the fourth reigning champions to lose four consecutive games. It is also the first time they have lost four consecutive league games since February 2021. Liverpool left-back Andrew Robertson offered no excuses for their struggles ahead of Palace&#39;s visit to Anfield in the League Cup on Wednesday. &quot;In a difficult moment, the only way to get out of it is work even harder, run that bit more and look after yourself that bit better,&quot; he said. &quot;The results have been nowhere near good enough over the last five, six games. We&#39;re the only ones who can get us out of it. &quot;We need to start playing better and we need to start showing a lot more consistency.&quot;

Football

In a growing crisis, Liverpool suffer a fourth straight league defeat, slipping to sixth as Arne Slot’s squad overhaul falters. Key signings struggle, Mohamed Salah is off form and defensive issues mount, leaving Slot searching for solutions.

Liverpool crisis mounts as Slot searches for answers

LIVERPOOL: Liverpool have no time to lick their wounds after back-to-back defeats as they prepare for a trip to Chelsea on Saturday while Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim is under severe pressure to beat in-form Sunderland. Arsenal can climb to the top of the table ahead of kick-off at Stamford Bridge should they beat struggling West Ham as third-placed Crystal Palace defend the only unbeaten record in the Premier League. AFP Sport looks at the major talking points ahead of the weekend action. A week ago, all seemed to be going to plan for defending champions Liverpool, who boasted a perfect record of seven wins from as many games in the Premier League, Champions League and League Cup. However, many of those victories were earned with last-gasp goals, papering over the cracks as Arne Slot sought to find the right balance in a squad transformed during the transfer window. Liverpool splashed out nearly &pound;450 million ($606 million) on new talent but also lost a number of key players including Trent Alexander-Arnold and Luis Diaz to fund those moves. &pound;100-million-plus signingsThe bulk of the spending went on Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz, but neither of the &pound;100-million-plus signings has yet scored for the Reds in the Premier League. The remodeling of the Liverpool attack has also reduced the impact of Mohamed Salah, who started Tuesday&#39;s 1-0 Champions League defeat to Galatasaray on the bench. At the other end of the pitch, new full-backs Milos Kerkez and Jeremie Frimpong have been exposed while Ibrahima Konate is woefully out of form, with his future at the club in doubt. &quot;I&#39;m not watching a top team,&quot; said former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher. &lsquo;They are playing basketball&rsquo;&quot;Liverpool aren&#39;t playing football at the moment, they are playing basketball. It is just end to end and I don&#39;t think top teams play like that.&quot; Despite Liverpool&#39;s flaws, Chelsea would love to be in their shoes. Enzo Maresca&#39;s men are seven points behind the leaders after taking just a single point from their past three matches. Chelsea may be paying the price for their exertions in winning the Club World Cup in July, with injuries and suspensions already piling up. Cole Palmer, Liam Delap and Levi Colwill are among notable injury absentees, while Trevoh Chalobah is banned after his red card provoked a collapse from 1-0 up to a 3-1 defeat at home to Brighton last week. <h2 style="line-height: 2;">Amorim&#39;s last dance?</h2>A looming two-week international break makes the visit of fifth-placed Sunderland even more of a must-win for Ruben Amorim if he is to guarantee Saturday is not his final game in the Old Trafford dugout. The Portuguese has taken just 34 points from his 33 Premier League games since taking charge last November. After the club&#39;s worst league finish (15th) since they were relegated in 1974, Amorim needed a fast start this season to prove he is capable of turning United&#39;s fortunes around. Instead, the Red Devils start the weekend in 14th spot after a shocking defensive display during a 3-1 loss to Brentford last weekend. &quot;After everything I&#39;ve seen, honestly, I&#39;ve got no faith in it,&quot; United&#39;s record goalscorer Wayne Rooney told the BBC. &quot;What is going on, this is not all on the manager, by the way. Players, they&#39;re not deserving to wear that shirt and it hurts.&quot; Sunderland travel to the Theatre of Dreams full of confidence after impressing on their return to the top division. The Black Cats are well on course to buck the trend of promoted clubs going straight back down to the Championship after taking 11 points from their opening six matches. FixturesFriday (all times GMT) Bournemouth v Fulham (1900) Saturday Leeds v Tottenham (1130), Arsenal v West Ham, Man Utd v Sunderland (both 1400), Chelsea v Liverpool (1630) Sunday Aston Villa v Burnley, Everton v Crystal Palace, Newcastle v Nottingham Forest, Wolves v Brighton (all 1300), Brentford v Manchester City (1530)

Liverpool look to recover from two straight defeats amid squad issues, while Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim faces mounting pressure ahead of a must-win clash with in-form Sunderland to save his job before the break.

Articles tagged with "Liverpool"

Liverpool crisis mounts as Slot searches for answers

Liverpool seek to steady ship, Man Utd's Amorim faces must-win game