Liverpool’s week of woe: Fatigue, slow starts and wayward strikers leave season on the brink

When the half-time whistle sounded at Old Trafford nine days ago, Liverpool were on course to return to the Premier League summit.

They led 1-0 courtesy of Luis Diaz’s volley and the only frustration for Jurgen Klopp was that their advantage wasn’t greater. They had dominated Manchester United with the shot count 15-0 in their favour.

Yet from a position of control, they imploded. Mohamed Salah’s late penalty salvaged a point but captain Virgil van Dijk summed up the mood when he said: “It feels like a loss.”

Their fortunes have nosedived since. With the humiliating 3-0 reverse to Atalanta in the first leg of the Europa League quarter-final followed by Sunday’s 1-0 setback at the hands of Crystal Palace, Liverpool have suffered back-to-back home defeats in front of supporters for the first time since January 2017.

Hopes of giving Klopp the dream farewell by adding to February’s Carabao Cup triumph have taken a major hit. With title rivals Arsenal also slipping up as they were beaten by Aston Villa, the initiative in this three-way race has been surrendered to Manchester City, who find themselves two points clear with six games remaining.

No longer in control of their own destiny, Liverpool’s season is in danger of fizzling out. Why did they endure such a wretched week?

Fatigue

When Klopp announced his shock departure in January he explained that he was “running out of energy”. The growing fear is that the same is now true of his team.

Sunday was Liverpool’s 51st game of the season in all competitions and they looked jaded, especially in midfield.

“Did Wataru (Endo) and Macca (Alexis Mac Allister) now play a little bit too much in the last few weeks? Maybe,” Klopp said after the Palace game.

The manager had rotated in search of freshness after the trip to Old Trafford, making six changes for the visit of Atalanta and then five against Palace. Endo and Mac Allister were two of the four outfield players to start all three matches (Darwin Nunez and Virgil van Dijk being the others) and it showed as they struggled to impose themselves on the contest.

Alexis Mac Allister has played virtually every minute of Liverpool’s last 12 league games (Michael Steele/Getty Images)

Both against Atalanta and Palace, Liverpool’s counter-press was virtually non-existent, with the front three of Salah, Nunez and Diaz not working as a unit. There was a lack of energy and dynamism. It was far too easy for opponents to play through the home side.

“We lacked conviction in the things we did,” explained Klopp. “Our pressing was at 40 to 50 per cent, spaces too big.”

Having players feeling the strain alongside those such as Salah, Curtis Jones, Diogo Jota and Trent Alexander-Arnold who are searching for rhythm after returning from long spells on the sidelines is not an ideal mix.

Emotional toll

It would be convenient to point to Klopp’s summer exit as providing an unwanted distraction. Of course, there is a degree of uncertainty as players wait to discover the identity of the new manager and where they stand in his plans. For Salah, Van Dijk and Alexander-Arnold, there’s also the matter of sorting out their futures as they prepare to enter the final year of their existing contracts.

However, internally, there is no sense that Klopp’s upcoming departure has contributed to the recent stumble. Staff point to the fact that Liverpool won nine out of the next 10 matches that followed the German’s announcement – the only blip being the 3-1 defeat at Arsenal.

It galvanised the dressing room, with Van Dijk — who took Sunday’s defeat particularly hard — talking about the burning collective desire to end the Klopp era on a high.

Virgil van Dijk took defeat to Palace particularly badly (Michael Steele/Getty Images)

What is undeniable, however, is that recent months have been emotionally draining. Liverpool have been living on the edge for so long and that’s bound to take its toll mentally.

You have to go back to the 4-1 win at Brentford in mid-February for the last time Klopp’s side led at half-time in a league game and were then comfortable in the second half.

There was Luton Town at home when Liverpool trailed at the break and had to produce a barnstorming second-half display to secure the points. Then came the drama of the Carabao Cup final at Wembley, the last-gasp winner at Nottingham Forest, the breathless 1-1 draw with Manchester City, the 4-3 defeat to Manchester United in the FA Cup, unconvincing home wins over Brighton and Sheffield United, and the damaging 2-2 stalemate with United.

There’s been so much riding on the outcome of every game and not once in that sequence have they been able to take their foot off the gas and cruise.

Slow starts

“Wow,” uttered Klopp on the touchline when Eberechi Eze tucked away Tyrick Mitchell’s cut-back to fire Palace ahead at Anfield inside 14 minutes.

It was a reaction to the ease at which his team had been carved open rather than his admiration for the quality of the finish. Runners weren’t tracked, no tackles made, it was far too easy.

Stumbling out of the blocks has been a problem Klopp has struggled to rectify all season. Liverpool, who have only kept nine clean sheets, have conceded first in 14 of their 32 league matches, the joint worst record for any of the top six, alongside Aston Villa.

“I don’t go into the meeting and tell the boys, ‘Let’s be 1-0 down and then we can turn it around’. We work on everything,” Klopp said. “We realise what’s a real problem and how can we sort it? That’s our daily job. Being 1-0 down is not the plan, especially with a goal like that, so free in our box.”

It was a similar story against Atalanta when only a brave save from Caoimhin Kelleher denied Mario Pasalic inside three minutes.

Liverpool have scored two and let in seven in the opening 15 minutes of league games this season — only rock-bottom Sheffield United have scored fewer and have a worse goal difference (1-11) in that period.

Their tally of winning 27 points from losing positions is the best in the top flight this season and, yes, at times it’s been dramatic and thrilling, but it’s simply not sustainable for title winners.

“We’ve spoken about that and we’ve said we can’t keep relying on our comebacks,” admitted left-back Andy Robertson, one of the few to emerge with any credit from Sunday.

“It’s impossible. You can’t keep doing it season after season, game after game. You have to get on the front foot, get the first goal, be on top, go after them. And we’ve not managed that. Again. Slow start, Palace capitalised on it, could have been 2-0 up easily.”

Wayward finishing

Across the three games against United, Atalanta and Palace, Liverpool had 68 shots and generated an expected goals (xG) total of 9.08. Somehow they managed to only score twice.

Liverpool’s xG of 2.87 against Palace, who hadn’t won away since November, was their highest on record in a Premier League match in which they failed to score, with Salah, Jota, Jones and Nunez all guilty of glaring misses.

Yet finishing chances has been an issue for Liverpool all season. Their shot conversion rate stands at 11 per cent (9.8 per cent since Klopp announced his departure on January 26). That figure stood at 14 per cent when they last won the title in 2019-20.

“If you don’t hit the back of the net, with the amount of chances we had, it’s so frustrating,” added Robertson. “All of us in front of goal aren’t exactly in a hot streak and we’re not keeping clean sheets so the results are never going to be in our favour. We had six or seven clear-cut chances between six to eight yards out.”

Nunez, who was also culpable against Atalanta and United, has picked a bad time to regress alarmingly. The erratic Uruguayan has the worst big-chance conversion rate out of Klopp’s attackers this season, scoring just six out of 31 (19.35 per cent).

In the last three matches, the £85million ($106m) striker has been substituted on each occasion with his team trailing and in need of inspiration. He has only netted once in his last six outings and that came from charging down the keeper’s clearance against Sheffield United. His simmering irritation boiled over when he booted a seat in the dugout area after seeing Jones fire wide on Sunday when clean through.

Darwin Nunez’s finishing has regressed in recent weeks (Michael Steele/Getty Images)

For so long, Liverpool have been able to rely on Salah to deliver when others are faltering. But the goals have also dried up for the Egyptian, who hasn’t been anywhere near as influential since returning from a hamstring injury last month. He has only netted four times in his last nine appearances, including a penalty and a tap-in against United.

With two cameo appearances under his belt, Jota’s imminent return to the starting lineup should help. The Portugal international has converted five of the eight big chances (62.5 per cent) to come his way during an injury-affected season.

There is also an argument to be made that young Jayden Danns should be used as an impact sub. The teenager did not look out of place when used earlier in the campaign and scored a brilliant back-heel for the under-21s against Manchester United last Friday.

Lack of belief

The reaction Klopp promised after the defeat to Atalanta wasn’t forthcoming.

“You could see that was not fully out of their minds. We lost in that one more than only the game,” rued the manager, a reference to the damage done to morale by the Serie A outfit bullying Liverpool at Anfield.

Klopp also talked about how the FA Cup defeat to United last month had felt “like a catastrophe” to the players having thrown away 2-1 and 3-2 leads. The 2-2 draw at Old Trafford in the league didn’t feel any better.

Confidence has taken a battering at a time when the pressure has been growing and limbs are weary. Self-doubt has crept in — both on the field and in the stands. The atmosphere was flat at Anfield for most of Sunday’s game. Anxiety levels were cranked up and the groans became more audible as fears over a defining setback grew.

Prior to Sunday, Mac Allister had been in outstanding form, Robertson has shown signs of getting back to his best after his long absence, Diaz has carried a threat and Cody Gakpo has been much improved.

Jurgen Klopp wanted a reaction against Palace but did not get one (Paul Ellis/AFP via Getty Images)

But so many others are clearly struggling. Dominik Szoboszlai is a prime example. Since returning from injury last month, he has been unable to rediscover his swagger and is making too many basic errors.

Klopp has got his work cut out lifting chins off the floor and the leadership group will also have a part to play in that. They cannot afford to feel sorry for themselves.

“We need to be perfect from here on in,” Robertson said. “It’s a hugely frustrating position to be in but we don’t stop fighting. We have to pick everyone up because there’s a lot of people who are down, whether they missed a chance, gave the ball away or whatever it is. We go again on Thursday.”

A week to forget. A week which has left Liverpool on the brink. The odds are against them but they must believe that the damage can still be repaired.

(Top photo: Peter Byrne/PA Images via Getty Images)