Adrian's tragicomedy enters third act
And so begins the third act of the Adrian San Miguel tragicomedy at Liverpool.
After Alisson Becker's unfortunate shoulder injury on Saturday, this game at Villa Park was his deputy's 21st for the Reds.
No other back-up keeper will have played anywhere near as much across all competitions in the last year in the top flight.
Certainly not one with ambitions as lofty as Liverpool's, at least.
After playing his part in the first 11 games of Liverpool's season last time out, the Spaniard then featured in the final three of the pre-lockdown matches of March.
Back in the side once again, this was another opportunity to play a big role in this usually remarkable Liverpool team.
And less than four minutes into his third significant run in the first team, he promptly dropped a clanger.
A disastrous square ball on his weaker left foot inside the six-yard box gave Ollie Watkins the easiest of opportunities to open the scoring.
The striker is new to scoring goals in the Premier League following his big-money move from Brentford, but he is unlikely to be presented with one as easy as that all season.
At a time when Adrian would have been asked - or expected - to instill some calm to an increasingly concerned fanbase over the long-term fitness of Alisson, this was not what was required.
The former West Ham shot-stopper had never been on the losing side of a Reds game in the Premier League, prior to this embarrassment, but incidents like his latest aberration were not exactly rarities.
Meetings with Southampton, Chelsea in the FA Cup and, of course, Atletico Madrid in the Champions League, were all marred by errors from the 33-year-old, to varying degrees of cost.
Jurgen Klopp, as ever, was coy when asked about the prospects of Alisson, but at a time when surgery has not been ruled out, it is not looking great.
The Liverpool manager later confirmed that Alisson won't be fit to play in the Merseyside derby on October 17 and could miss up to six weeks.
Wherever you land on Adrian, though, he is set to stay between the sticks for the next few weeks, at least.
This most jarring and shocking of defeats was not solely down to the incumbent of the goalkeeper's shirt, however.
This humiliating reverse must not be laid completely at the door of Adrian.
But Liverpool now face an anxious wait to discover Alisson's fate and an awful lot could rest on it.
Firmino becoming Liverpool problem
At what point does Roberto Firmino become a Liverpool problem?
A 7-2 defeat is probably not the obvious starting position to point the finger at a No.9, but the Brazilian could have few complaints when his number went up on the board in the second half.
Just the one goal at Anfield last season was not a big issue as the Reds swept to the title, but the forward - like the rest of his team-mates, it must be said - was hugely off colour here at Villa Park.
Two early chances went begging as he elected to seek an extra touch rather than shooting first time.
Both opportunities were glaring reminders that this wonderful, flamboyant Brazilian, who leads the Liverpool attack, is not a natural, hard-nosed, dyed-in-the-wool goal-hound like many others who have worn his number at Anfield.
For the most part, that is not what is required in this team, where the goals are mainly supplied by the twin jets of Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane from wide areas.
At his best, Firmino oozes class and is the perfect foil for his fellow frontmen.
Here though, on the most miserable night of Klopp's Liverpool tenure, Firmino was someway off the pace.
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Time and again he lost possession, gifting it back to a Villa backline who could scarcely believe this shadow of a Liverpool team who had turned up to face them.
In truth, Firmino is yet to even look close to bagging so far this season and at a time when his understudy, Takumi Minamino, continues to look bright and inventive, he finds himself under real pressure.
The longest of two weeks
Liverpool will have been content to leave Birmingham with bruised egos and bowed heads.
And while the usually unwanted international breaks become interminable, insufferable stoppages in play for those of a red persuasion, this one upcoming could just be the worst of the lot.
For the best part of two weeks, those connected to this football club will be force to stew and suffer over one of the most horrendous nights in decades.
Even for an era as prone to hyperbole as this one, there were no words that could over-egg that paucity of what was served up at Villa Park.
It really was THAT bad.
Now, Liverpool's players, coaching staff and supporters will be unable to escape the harsh critiques and knee-jerk reactions that will inevitably fire in from every corner.
From social media, radio phone-ins and television analysis, they will hear all about what went wrong in this 7-2 hammering.
Yes, seven-two.
Liverpool will get a chance to eventually put this anomaly to bed, but they must wait until October 17 to do so.
And their hosts that day, a high-flying, resurgent, Premier League-leading Everton, will do their absolute utmost to spread salt into every wound opened up here.
That game has taken on incredible significance.
Liverpool haven't lost a derby for 10 years and they will need to pull out something special to ensure that proud run goes on.
