Before Liverpool's showdown with West Ham United at Anfield, Simon Mignolet insisted that the hosts' record over the Londoners - having not fallen to defeat to them on home soil in 52 years - meant nothing.
It took just two minutes and 28 seconds before he was proven correct, Manuel Lanzini silencing Anfield to give the Hammers an early lead.
Things never really picked up from there on in.
Mark Noble, who was later sent off in rather contentious circumstances, doubled the visitors' lead on the half-hour mark as Liverpool trudged into the break with their parade having been well and truly rained on.
That rain soon turned in to a torrential downpour, as a red card for Philippe Coutinho - which rules him out of the clash away at Manchester United next month - shortened their chances of a comeback even further.
The visitors, themselves now down to 10 men, crowned another memorable away day as Diafra Sakho added a third in front of the travelling contingent gathered in Anfield Road End lower.
The home fans, by contrast, were filtering out of the turnstiles in their numbers and scratching their heads at how it had come to this from a game they were routinely expected to win.
Display puts a dampener on Reds' spirits
It was certainly a puzzling display, one which came just five days after the Reds had put in a stellar performance away at one of the toughest possible stadiums to travel to in the Premier League.
That night, the Reds looked unified - with the supporters starting to again demonstrate their faith and belief in manager Brendan Rodgers, singing his name loudly and proudly as their side showcased their revitalised defensive foundations and their refreshing threats going forward in a pulsating goalless draw.
But all that went straight out of the window almost immediately against the Hammers, as the defensive frailties which plagued them in the business end of the last campaign returned to haunt them.
That, too, was combined with a dismal attacking display - with Rodgers' charges showing almost none of the fluidity, spirit and link-up play they had at the Emirates Stadium on Monday evening.
Instead, they were laughably lacklustre. Movement was at a premium and they were way too one dimensional, too often opting to go aerially to Christian Benteke as they struggled to break down their resolute and resilient opponents - who admittedly had to do rather little to keep a disjointed and uncoordinated Liverpool at bay.
In fact, the home side produced an unpalatable performance reminiscent of the dreary 90 minutes they so often mustered up last season.
It was one which paints a slightly more melanchonic picture ahead of the international break and a lot of work and analysis will need to be done behind-the-scenes before what is a testing trip to Manchester United in a couple of weeks.
Lack of goals turning into a real worry
While it all started so positively this term, with the Reds having kept three consecutive clean sheets and taken seven points from nine - now the attention is turning towards a worrying lack of goals.
Two in four, one of which the Premier League themselves even acknowledged should not have stood due to a change in the offside rules, is a concerning return from a side who were supposed to have bolstered their goalscoring department over the summer.
And though many may brush it off as early season woes - adding that it was more the problem of getting service to both Roberto Firmino, who struck the woodwork, and Benteke, against West Ham - their lack of potency going forward could quickly become a real worry.
With the defence seemingly having coming on leaps and bounds up until now, goals weren't seen as much of a problem. The Reds dragged themselves through the first three games, with the approach that there was time for them to rediscover their swashbuckling attacking football in the coming weeks - as the new-look squad, complete with several summer signings, continued to gel.
But after four games, they have now only netted the same as Newcastle United, Southampton, Watford and Man United, two whom have a game in hand and with everyone else in the league having scored more.
Normally, that might not be an issue, but Liverpool have certainly created enough chances for themselves to have bettered their goals for tally - 40, to be precise.
The biggest of those opportunities, such as Benteke's chances against Bournemouth, which he saw hit the woodwork, and another versus Arsenal - as Petr Cech thwarted the Belgian from close-range, are chances that usually need taking in a league as competitive as the English top-flight.
They had some improved defensive work of their own to thank for the fact that those misses weren't punished, but on the other hand - the finishing of their opponents was also well under-par and their defence could actually have been punished on any other night.
Defensive improvements overshadowed in 90 dismal minutes
That was clearly shown in a number of specific moments where the Reds, who had only conceded eight shots on target before the game against West Ham, where they leaked a further five, afforded easily preventable chances, or half-chances, to their opponents.
There were still the odd precarious incidents, one such as where Dejan Lovren rashly sliced a simple clearance up into the air at home to Bournemouth - unnecessarily putting himself under pressure, albeit pressure he dealt with on that occasion.
Another pertinent example was Martin Skrtel being caught ball watching as Santi Cazorla's cross found Olivier Giroud, rather than keeping an eye on the run of Alexis Sanchez's run - who picked up the lay-off from the French striker before crashing a shot off the outside of the near post.
Whilst the good outweighed the bad, with more incidents of Liverpool's back-line impressing than of them jangling the nerves - there was still more than a few underlying incidents that the right opponents would be there to take advantage of the mistakes Liverpool remain susceptible of making. The slightest mistakes, particularly in the Premier League, are usually capitalised upon.
West Ham did exactly that, gratefully accepting Skrtel's poor headed clearance for the first, before exploiting Lovren's preposterous decision-making for the second. Again, Skrtel was caught back-tracking for the third, as opposed to stepping up to Sakho and preventing him from getting his shot away.
Simply put, this was not an unfortunate result. West Ham came to Merseyside with a tactical plan, executed it to perfection and came up with the goods - though the Reds continually shot themselves in the foot in similar fashion to which they architected their own downfall last season.
Liverpool had very few answers, at either ends of the pitch, against Slaven Bilić's West Ham. As a result, their heaviest home defeat in the league since a 4-1 loss to Chelsea in 2005 was the deserved punishment for an inadequate showing.
It was a case of taking a step back from the progression Liverpool looked to have made until now, and with the hope and optimism having just started to return - Rodgers has now gone back to square one yet again.
He needs to ensure his side react emphatically against United at Old Trafford next month, or else serious pressure could begin to mount on him and his team.