With three defeats on the spin heading into the international break, it’s safe to say Arne Slot’s Liverpool were experiencing a mini crisis in confidence.
Now, after a 2-1 loss to Manchester United on Sunday evening, it’s clear that the Reds are engulfed in a major crisis, with 17 shots at the Red Devils’ goal not enough to nick a win, as the reigning Premier League champions went empty-handed for a fourth game in a row.
Mohamed Salah, again, showed signs of rust against Ruben Amorim’s visitors, as another big game passed the declining Egyptian by.
Salah's performance in numbers vs Manchester United
The 33-year-old attacker was seen as one of the world’s best last season as Liverpool romped home to the top-flight title.
Times have changed, however, with the once untouchable number 11 no longer his usual clinical self, with a total of three shots failing to beat Senne Lammens in goal for Amorim’s challengers.
Staggeringly, for a star that scored a blistering 29 goals last season in the Premier League, Salah is now without a non-penalty strike for seven straight top-flight games, with one big chance also agonisingly missed, as Harry Maguire broke Reds hearts late on.
FFC’s stat of the day: Salah has gone seven consecutive Premier League appearances without scoring a non-penalty goal for the first time in his Liverpool career.
With zero successful dribbles completed as well, on top of possession being carelessly given away 16 times, it’s clear that Salah is no longer the “top class” version of himself he has previously been – as he was once branded by Jurgen Klopp – with Slot perhaps ready to axe his usually undroppable number 11 for games to follow.
The Dutchman could well axe quite a few underperformers after the alarming defeat at the hands of their arch rivals, with one summer recruit once again struggling to get to grips with his new environment against the Red Devils.
3/10 Liverpool star was even worse than Salah
Salah wasn’t alone in letting his team down during the 2-1 defeat, with his attacking teammate in Alexander Isak, only managing 19 touches of the ball when leading the line for the lacklustre Reds.
Having cost a mind-blowing £125m to obtain from Newcastle, Isak must get up and running fast to dodge claims that he’s an expensive flop.
Milos Kerkez wasn’t purchased on the cheap, either, with the former AFC Bournemouth defender costing a mighty £40m to bring into the building this summer.
Unfortunately, despite being labelled as “one of the most explosive LBs in Europe” by one analyst ib social media shortly after leaving the South Coast behind for Anfield, Kerkez had a night to forget against the visitors from Manchester, as his Liverpool woes go on.
Minutes played
90
Goals scored
0
Assists
0
Touches
62
Accurate passes
34/39 (87%)
Big chances created
1
Accurate crosses
1/8
Possession lost
15x
Total duels won
4/6
Indeed, when analysing the numbers, there are some positives for Kerkez to latch onto, with the Hungarian creating one big chance to try and steer his new employers back into the contest.
However, the negatives do start to pile up quickly on further inspection, with the 21-year-old only managing to register one accurate cross from eight attempted, which also led to the defender giving up possession a haphazard 15 times in total.
His unassured nature on the ball even led to Sky Sports’ Jamie Redknapp labelling him as a “nervous wreck” at half-time of the 2-1 defeat, with fellow pundit Gary Neville also once noting that Kerkez looks “naive” when donning Liverpool red, as opposed to excelling for the Cherries.
It could be time for Slot to bring back in the experienced head of Andrew Robertson for some calm, therefore, with London Evening Standard journalist Sam Tabuteau agreeing with the verdict on the young defender when brandishing a disappointing 3/10 rating his way at the close of the match, with Amad given “acres of space” down the left channel courtesy of the 21-year-old.
Kerkez will hope he can push on from this torrid start at Anfield in the games to come, but if Slot is potentially willing to drop Salah, he won’t bat an eyelid in getting rid of the promising full-back if needs be, as a drastic change of lineup could be needed to get the Reds out of their sophomore slump.