Liverpool were agonisingly abject, going down by a single goal against Swansea City on Monday evening.
Alfie Mawson’s sweet finish in the first-half was enough for a dogged home side, who came into the match sitting bottom of the table.
The Welsh side parked the bus and got their rewards, leaving Liverpool fans angling for a Philippe Coutinho replacement as their side notably lacked midfield creativity.
Jurgen Klopp sprung few surprises with his selection, making just the one change from the win over Manchester City, Virgil van Dijk in for Dejan Lovren.
Sadio Mané was involved in much of the early action, taking a hand to the face in the second minute that pretty much summed up Liverpool’s evening.
Emre Can, captain for the night, created the first opportunity of the game as he lifted the ball over the defence, but Mané was unable to bring it down under pressure inside the area.
A similar opportunity was opened up for Mohamed Salah off a Van Dijk pass later in the half, with Salah showing a lack of composure as he volleyed over.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, fresh off his City strike, looked to test Lukasz Fabianski with a driven effort that came to no avail on a night where everything looked so easy for the Swansea stopper.
Swansea hadn’t threatened at all until they did, going 1-0 up after 40 minutes. Van Dijk’s clearance from a corner dropped to the feet of Federico Fernandez, the Argentine shifting the ball across to Mawson who sent a delightful finish straight into the corner of the net.
Liverpool did carve open an opportunity to level the game before the break, with Mané slipping as he went to shoot from a Salah cross.
The Reds looked better as the second-half got underway, perhaps due to Swansea getting into the metaphorical trenches and refusing to come out for anything other than a cheap set piece.
Andy Robertson looked to have broken beyond the Swansea defence as he latched onto a pass from Firmino, only for Kyle Naughton to nip in with a good challenge.
Liverpool were getting desperate and the fans in the stands were getting frustrated, Klopp’s lack of substitutes mixed with a range of wild shots from the defence doing little to trouble Swansea.
Adam Lallana and Danny Ings were eventually introduced, and both were involved in Liverpool’s late attempts to muster a point.
Ings, presumably just delighted to be on a Premier League pitch, looked to do what he could but could only send the one snap-shot into Fabianski’s grasp, while Lallana’s missed chance in stoppage time put a bow on Liverpool’s night.
Van Dijk, playing by then as a striker, sent a lovely cross into the box for Firmino, the Brazilian somehow only heading against the post. Liverpool looked to have retrieved the chance as the ball bounced out to Lallana, only for the midfielder to mis-control and watch Swansea clear for a corner.
That was that. Game lost. Unbeaten run ended.
Liverpool remain fourth but are now just two points ahead of Tottenham and five ahead of Arsenal.
We just need to re-group…got west brom Saturday …Huddersfield in midweek..and then spurs at home…YNWA
Ah the Liverpool we are all familar with, great one week, abject the very next, they are back.
For those who think we could win something under Klopp, what a massive reality check.