To say Liverpool were not at the races against Nigel Pearson’s side would be an understatement. You could go as far as saying it was the worst performance from a Klopp side in recent memory.
The Reds looked uninterested from minute one, with sloppy passes being a constant throughout.
Going off their previous league encounters against Norwich City and West Ham, the Champions-elect were there for the taking and Pearson’s men set up in an awkward manner which totally got the better of Klopp’s side.
Ismaïla Sarr was the star of the show as he contributed two goals and an assist, all of which came after the interval. His second was the pick of the bunch, as he perfectly timed his run and sat down Alisson Becker with an immaculate chip, certainly one for the YouTube highlight reel.
Dejan Lovren…
You are always guaranteed a ‘Lovren’ performance at some stage in the season and the defeat on Saturday evening was most definitely one of them moments.
The man self-labelled as the ‘best in the world’ has had some howlers during his time at Liverpool but this display may well top them all as being the most horrific.
His positional awareness and lack of movement in vital moments of the game highlighted why he has been fourth choice for the last two seasons.
Lovren’s inclusion in the team also causes major problems for his teammates, with the likes of Trent Alexander-Arnold and Virgil van Dijk having to do double the work to clean up the Croat’s mess.
For example, with the human eye, it seemed to be Van Dijk’s worst performance since joining the Reds, but his statistical output was higher than usual. The Dutch defender had a 90% pass success rate and 100% duel success rate which was better than his stats for his match of the match performance against Manchester United.
Of Van Dijk’s five league defeats for Liverpool, four have come when partnering a certain Mr. Lovren.
Simply playing next to Lovren made the UEFA Men’s Player of the Year look bad, and when you’re making the best defender in the world look poor, you have to take a step back and majorly inspect your performance.
Champions League on their mind
Since their Champions League defeat to Atlético Madrid two weeks back, the Reds have been a shadow of their former selves. They scrapped past West Ham on Monday Night Football after coming from 2-1 down to win late on.
A team who looked unstoppable suddenly look weak and complacent and if you were to put your finger on why, the only reasonable explanation is that they already have their sights set on the return leg of the Atlético game as opposed to the matter at hand.
The Reds have conceded five goals in two Premier League games for the first time since September 2017, having kept 7 clean sheets in a row at one point this season.
What a run it was
The defeat ends an unbelievable run for Klopp's men in the league and one which cements them as one of the best sides of the Premier League era.
Since their last league defeat in the league, Liverpool went 44 matches unbeaten (106 points out of 111), spanning over 422 days which was the second-longest run in English history.
They also won the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup in that 422-day period.
Simply sensational.