Going into the match at Bournemouth, Liverpool’s unbeaten run was the longest of any aspect in Europe’s high 5 leagues.
Hardly the signal of a crew struggling.
However, as Amine Adli wheeled away in ecstasy after scoring , the truth of Liverpool’s issues that had been considerably hidden by their 13-game undefeated sequence had been laid naked.
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The reigning champions at the moment are winless of their previous 5 Premier League matches, after 4 attracts and one defeat.
Bar the draw towards Arsenal, the opposite 4 video games have been towards Leeds, Burnley, Fulham and now Bournemouth.
This can be a Liverpool aspect not feared – one which has misplaced the aura they possessed whereas romping to the title final season. Right here, they defended erratically and had been predictable going ahead.
“From Bournemouth’s standpoint, they might have checked out Liverpool and thought ‘why cannot we beat them?’ Arne Slot’s aspect look miles off the crew we noticed final season,” stated Alan Shearer, who’s a pundit on Saturday’s Match of the Day.
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“Liverpool simply do not look proper in all areas. They’re making too many errors and are weak defensively, as we noticed with the successful purpose. Whereas they scored two objectives from set-pieces, they did not create anyplace close to sufficient from open play.”
‘The one ones guilty are ourselves’
Bournemouth have been there for the taking this season.
Andoni Iraola’s aspect have been decimated by accidents and not have Antoine Semenyo since he joined Manchester Metropolis. The Cherries got here into this recreation with one win in 14 matches, however ruthlessly uncovered Liverpool.
Virgil van Dijk’s error for the primary purpose by Evanilson was completely avoidable, even when Slot insisted the windy circumstances performed a component.
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But the truth that Liverpool didn’t suppose to play the ball out earlier than the second purpose by Alex Jimenez, with a view to substitute the injured Joe Gomez and not play with 10 males, was baffling.
Slot and his assistant Sipke Hulshoff had been telling the gamers to place the ball out so they might carry Wataru Endo on. They had been made to pay, and from that time on Liverpool had been up towards it.
“I attempted to scream in the direction of them [his players] to place the ball out of play however really we had been fairly snug – I believe we stored the ball for fairly a very long time after which after we misplaced it, it was the alternative,” stated Slot.
“Perhaps that sums up our season. It is each time one thing else, it is each time one thing particular how we concede. However we concede and the one ones guilty are ourselves.”
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For Slot, the main target post-match was on fixture congestion and the tiredness of his gamers.
Liverpool had been good however this was a distinct problem completely towards a Bournemouth aspect that deserve all of the credit score for chasing a winner, regardless of dropping a two-goal lead.
By the hour mark, three of Liverpool’s beginning again 4 had been off the pitch with Gomez injured, whereas Milos Kerkez and Jeremie Frimpong had been taken off to guard their health.
“I believe it is protected to say just a few gamers of ours ran out of vitality,” stated Slot. “I can’t even criticise them for that as a result of two days in the past we needed to play an away recreation in Europe.
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“We’re the one crew that performed [in the] Champions League that has two days between on this time.”
In mitigation, Liverpool’s lack of depth was clear with notable accidents and absences however, bar Rio Ngumoha, they nonetheless completed the sport with senior gamers and Slot was in a position to name on the likes of Endo, Andy Robertson, Curtis Jones and Hugo Ekitike off the bench.
But Slot was forthcoming in insisting Bournemouth might have made it 3-2 earlier. The winner got here within the ninety fifth minute and led to wild scenes, but it surely hardly got here as a shock for individuals who have adopted Liverpool this season.
They conceded a Ninetieth-minute successful purpose for the third time within the Premier League this marketing campaign – their most in a single season within the competitors – and it was the fifth time they’d misplaced factors in stoppage time.
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It was additionally the fifth Premier League purpose they’ve conceded from a throw-in this season – probably the most of any crew.
If Arsenal win towards Manchester United on Sunday (16:30 GMT), Liverpool will probably be nearer to the relegation zone than the highest of the Premier League. That alone is a damning indictment of their woeful title defence.
“Their purpose needs to be salvaging the season by qualifying for the Champions League with a top-four or maybe top-five end – however that is a giant drop-off from what we noticed final season,” added Shearer.
Liverpool’s Premier League defence has been over for some time. This can be a squad that ought to compete for the title subsequent season, however proper now they don’t have any semblance of an identification, and above all are not feared.