Liverpool absorbing defeat at Anfield on Thursday is significant for so many reasons. No thanks to Burnley, it was the first loss at home for the Reds since April 2017. And the reigning Premier League champions have not won since December 19, thus alarming analysts that Jurgen Klopp's side is not ready to defend the title.
To date, Liverpool went five matches without a win, and the obvious reason - the club is struggling to score. It's as if Klopp can no longer depend on his vaunted frontline, the scoring machine that Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane used to be.
The German boss said the latest setback and the side's slumping performance is on him. He admitted that seeing the match go away at home was quite a humiliation. Klopp described it as a "massive punch in the face."
The Liverpool boss told BBC: "It's my fault and that's how it is. We have to make better decisions, we have to do the right stuff more often."
Klopp attempted to explain that his squad's slide can be attributed to the player's bruised confidence as evidenced by the last five games. It came as a surprise though because just a month ago, Liverpool made an example of Crystal Palace on how to drub the opposition with a 7-0 victory.
Now, the not-so-distant memory of a proud Reds squad seemed impossible to summon. When the campaign started, pundits pointed to Liverpool as the favored club of the lot, the most likely winner of the title that eluded for three decades.
But with the way things are going, Liverpool only fourth on the table and to face challenging fixtures ahead, analysts are reexamining their earlier assessment. Jamie Carragher said it's hard to be optimistic seeing the present form of his former club.
"It looks like the title is slipping away. Six points can still be recovered but, with form and fixtures, Liverpool might be worrying about [losing] top-four positions rather than the title," offered the ex-Liverpool defender.
Goal couldn't agree more, saying the last few weeks have been the worst run of form for the Merseyside club in 20 years. By failing to find the back of the net in the past four games, it seemed to indicate that Liverpool will not score a back-to-back win.
"On current form, they'll do well to make the top four," declared the report.
To be fair, the Liverpool roster is not 100% healthy and that fact was highlighted by the sidelining of defender Virgil van Dijk. But Klopp's top guns - Mane, Salah, and even Roberto Firmino - are available and able to play. But sadly, their recent performance can be best described as but a shadow of the same players who won the Champions League and Premier League in the last two years.
Klopp himself admitted that his men are able but the confidence seemed lacking. It might have been shattered for some reason but the Reds need to piece their confidence back together, and quickly.
