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Last season it felt like Liverpool was creating history almost every week.
Fast forward a few months and each weekend seems to come with a new chapter of horror — and it continued on Sunday morning with a 2-0 defeat to Everton in the Merseyside derby.
Everton had not beaten Liverpool since 2010 — a run of 20 games — and had not won at Anfield since 1999.
But that’s not quite the same challenge currently as it was last year, as the Reds lost at home for the fourth consecutive match. They haven’t done that since 1923.
“This is an amazing feeling. Having come here over the years, let ourselves down, and more importantly letting the blue half of the city down, it’s been hard,” Everton captain Seamus Coleman said.
“You put a face on and try and brush it off, but it’s difficult to take and you feel sorry for the fans. I’m fed up coming out with the same clichés after losing. I thank the manager for the way he set us up, the players for their performance against the champions. I’m delighted.”
After Richarlison opened the scoring in the third minute, inspirational performances by Blues defender Michael Keane and goalkeeper Jordan Pickford kept the defending champions scoreless.
“I know Liverpool have dominated possession but it doesn’t mean anything if you don’t create. And that is a big problem for this Liverpool team,” Reds great Jamie Carragher said in commentary for Sky Sports.
“Very rarely do you see Liverpool play now when you expect them to score.”
There was a penalty controversy late in the game as Trent Alexander-Arnold was punished harshly for a desperate challenge and Gylfi Sigurdsson saluted from the spot.
“The referee has given a penalty, but l am not sure what Trent is supposed to do. He has run over him,” Carragher said.
But even the most diehard Reds fans will have to admit they got what they deserved from the match to still trail table-toppers Manchester City by 16 points despite having played one more game.
Among defending Premier League champions, only Leicester City in 2016-17 (21) and Chelsea in 2015-16 (30) have had fewer points after 25 games the season after winning the title than Liverpool’s 40 this campaign.
Former Liverpool captain Graeme Souness described Jurgen Klopp’s team as a “shadow of themselves”.
“The first 10 minutes I saw a reaction but then it just faded. No Liverpool player can come off that pitch tonight and think to themselves that they played well,” Souness told Sky.
“Liverpool used to be horrible to play against. Now everybody wants to play against them. They are an easy touch.
“Fair play to Everton, the win was thoroughly-deserved. They set out to be hard to play against. Everton did the business, the defended when they had to, the goalkeeper made a couple of really good saves, and they deserved it. 2-0 doesn’t flatter Everton. In all the areas that are important, they were better than Liverpool.”
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