Here is your Liverpool digest for Sunday, October 30.
Clueless Liverpool causing real alarm
How Liverpool must wish they could turn the clocks back a lot further than just an hour this evening.
Never has the quadruple-chasing thrill ride of last term seemed so far, far away for Jurgen Klopp and his players after a troubling season slumped to a new, shocking low.
READ MORE: Liverpool fans left divided after Alisson and Joe Gomez mix-up results in Leeds goal
READ MORE: Rhian Brewster 'close to tears' leaving the field after former Liverpool man substituted
Defeat to Leeds United, a team in the relegation zone and who had been kept off the bottom only by goal difference, was bad enough. That it came at Anfield – a first Premier League loss in front of supporters since April 2017, a first top-flight home reverse in 71 games for skipper Virgil van Dijk – compounded the hurt.
But the manner of this pathetic setback will cause the greatest alarm, Liverpool appearing clueless for the most part while offering two gift-wrapped goals for the visitors at either end of the match. Too many players, as has been the case for much of the season, were way off their best. There was a lack of imagination, intensity and, during the closing stages, a worrying absence of belief.
Read the rest of Ian Doyle's match verdict here.
Fabinho dreadful as six others very bad
It was a night to forget for Liverpool as their long-standing unbeaten home run ended.
Worse than points dropped or chances missed, however, were the performances of many Liverpool players. An early howler from Joe Gomez and Alisson Becker allowed Leeds to manipulate the game, with mistakes in possession and a lack of midfield energy cause for concern.
Liverpool created several chances but failed to finish them off, through a combination of poor finishing and an inspired opponent in French goalkeeper Illan Meslier. And it was typical that the eventual winner would come as a result of Liverpool players being caught on their heels.
Fabinho in particular was woeful in midfield, but the Brazilian was not the only one some way below par.
See Ian Doyle's player ratings here.
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