defeat by city of manchester This means Liverpool have already lost five Premier League games in the current campaign, one more than their final total in both 2023-24 and 2024-25. In fact, only the league’s bottom six have been beaten more often than the Reds this season.
The last time the Merseysiders lost five top-flight games at this stage was in 2014-15, when they finished sixth in Brendan Rodgers’ last full season in charge.
The history books suggest that it is highly unlikely that Arne Slot’s team will be able to recover and retain the title.
Not since Manchester City in 1967-68 had a team been crowned top-flight champions after five defeats in their first 11 games. Going back even further, Liverpool themselves achieved the feat in 1905-06, as did Sunderland in 1912-13.
As Slot’s side are yet to draw, they are just eight points off the top and have winnable games against Nottingham Forest and West Ham after the international break.
But they will have to quickly break the habit of losing or else the gap with Arsenal and Manchester City will quickly become insurmountable.