Liverpool slipped to a first league defeat at Anfield since April 2017 as they went down 1-0 to Burnley, leaving Jamie Carragher struggling to explain the Reds' dip in form.
Ashley Barnes' late penalty settled a contest which Liverpool dominated on Thursday, ending a 68-game unbeaten run at home in the league for Jurgen Klopp's side.
Liverpool had 71.9 per cent possession and 27 attempts – with six on target – yet could find no way through to goal for the fourth Premier League match in succession.
The Reds have had a total of 87 shots since Sadio Mane's opener in a 1-1 draw with West Brom on December 27, and their tally of efforts on Thursday is the most they have had in a single league match without finding the net since April 2013 and most at Anfield since April 2012.
Their last league win was a 7-0 thumping of Crystal Palace prior to Christmas, and Liverpool are now six points adrift of league leaders Manchester United, while they have also played a game more than second-placed Manchester City.
It is a situation which has left former Anfield stalwart Carragher puzzled.
"We were talking about a blip for Liverpool and Jurgen Klopp has come out and defended his players as you would expect because these players have done so much for Liverpool," the Sky Sports pundit said.
"I think they have got to get back to scoring goals and winning games before they start thinking about someone taking the title off them. They have just been so poor. You cannot quite believe what has happened to Liverpool in the last few weeks."
However, Carragher also fears that Liverpool could become embroiled in a battle for Champions League qualification, never mind their chances of retaining their crown.
"At this moment it looks like the title is slipping away," Carragher added.
"Six points can still be recovered but the form Liverpool are in and the fixtures they have in the coming months, I think Liverpool fans will be worrying a little more about their top-four position than the title.
"You go from that 7-0 win at Palace to so many players out of form at the same time. It is his job to fix it – whether that is formations, personnel, however they go about it – but there are so many teams challenging for that top four it will be a worry for Liverpool until they get out of this little run that they are on."
Liverpool sit fourth on 34 points, having played a game more than fifth-placed Tottenham and two more than sixth-placed Everton, while West Ham are also only two points behind.
Chelsea and Southampton are also within touching distance, while Arsenal have propelled themselves up the table and Aston Villa have three games in hand.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin determined to stay fit and build on Brentford strike
Dominic Calvert-Lewin is determined to stay fit after revealing his frustration at his latest injury setback.
The England striker returned from a fractured cheekbone to score Everton’s third goal in their 3-1 win at Brentford.
“It’s difficult when you keep getting sidelined and you’re doing everything to stay on the pitch, but I think everyone knows I’m doing everything I possibly can,” Calvert-Lewin told the club website.
“I’m in a good place now, feeling physically fit, strong, fast. I’m buzzing to get the goal and long may it continue.
“We knew we needed a result and most importantly a win but we have to continue the work we’ve been doing, keep the momentum and take that into next week.”
James Tarkowski had headed the Toffees back into the lead against his old club after Mathias Jensen cancelled out Abdoulaye Doucoure’s opener.
Calvert-Lewin then secured Everton’s first win of the season and condemned the Bees to a first home defeat.
“I think that Everton deserved to win,” said Bees boss Thomas Frank. “The first five games we played this season, we performed very well – this was a bad performance. We need to learn from that, move forward and bounce back.
“What this group of fantastic players have done very well over all the years I’ve been in charge here is that, after a bad performance, they’ve bounced back.
“Everything that Everton came with didn’t surprise us. We expected everything, we just handled it poorly. We just didn’t deal very well with it.
“There are two things, besides the bad performance, that we need to look into: one is defensive set-pieces, obviously we conceded two goals and we weren’t on top of them.
“Secondly, is our quality and decision-making on the ball, especially in the first half. We were throwing the ball away way, way too easy with touches, passes and decisions.”
Phil Foden admits Rodri will be a ‘big miss’ during his three-match suspension
Phil Foden admits Manchester City have a big hole to fill after influential midfielder Rodri picked up a three-game ban in Saturday’s win over Nottingham Forest.
The Spain international was sent off early in the second half of City’s 2-0 victory at the Etihad Stadium for raising his hands towards the neck of Forest’s Morgan Gibbs-White.
The treble winners now face being without Rodri for their midweek Carabao Cup trip to Newcastle, next Saturday’s game at Wolves and – most crucially – the encounter at Arsenal on October 8.
Foden said: “He is one of our most important players and he seems to play all the minutes. He is going to be a big miss, but we have players to step up now and we are going to need them.”
Rodri’s dismissal dramatically changed the mood of a game City had been cruising to victory in following goals from Foden and Erling Haaland in the first 14 minutes.
A tame affair became fractious and City lost some of their composure before switching to a defensive mindset.
Attacking players Jeremy Doku and Julian Alvarez were sacrificed for Kalvin Phillips and Nathan Ake as manager Pep Guardiola took a pragmatic approach to secure three points.
“I thought we showed a different side to the team,” Foden said.
“It was not ideal with Rodri getting a red card so early in the second half, but I thought we showed heart and desire – a different side to the team that we sometimes need to show.
“I am really happy with the performance. We dug deep.”
Despite making their latest victory unnecessarily complicated, the champions’ 100 per cent start to the season remains intact.
In an ominous warning for the rest of the competition, Foden believes there is plenty more to come.
The 23-year-old said: “I would say it is a perfect start, but there are still a couple of gears for us to go. We are happy with the start, but we still know we can get better.”
Forest manager Steve Cooper was pleased with his side’s response in the second half and felt they should have got more from playing against 10-man City.
He said: “When you play a game and you get presented an opportunity, you really want to recognise that you have to take that.
“I’m not angry with the players. I’m not disappointed in any way, shape or form, and I’ve told them that.
“But I’ve just challenged them, like, ‘Come on boys, really back yourselves, because I do’.
“Hopefully we’ll reflect on the game and be motivated that we can play in these really tough games and do some good things.”
Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag hails ‘massively important’ Jonny Evans
Erik ten Hag praised “massively important” Jonny Evans after the defender was drafted into the starting line-up and helped Manchester United to a 1-0 victory against Burnley.
The 35-year-old made his first start for the club since 2015 and, as well as helping secure a much-needed clean sheet, set up Bruno Fernandes for the only goal after having an earlier header ruled out.
Evans re-signed for the club earlier this month following his release by Leicester, and boss Ten Hag said: “We have problems and in this moment a lot is against us: injuries, decisions and we have all seen the examples.
“We are very happy to have a player like Jonny Evans in the squad. He comes in and he is calm, composed, he has character and a good skill-set. Even when you have things against you, you can bounce back and then you have the character in the team to do that.
“In the summer, I heard he was in to train with the under-23s, I said ‘Fletch (technical director Darren Fletcher), come bring him in with the first team. Maybe he can help us’.
“I already saw in pre-season with the schedule, the problems with the numbers in the squad. We decided to sign him because I think he can really contribute to the squad and today you have seen how massively important he can be.”
Fernandes’ first-time volley from Evans’ ball over the top was a moment of real quality in a game where Ten Hag knew United could not afford another slip-up after three losses in a row.
“This was a must-win and we knew that,” said the Dutchman, who had no complaints about the disallowed goal with Rasmus Hojland deemed to be offside and interfering in front of goalkeeper James Trafford.
“The team responded on the pitch. You could see the togetherness in the dressing room. It was a squad performance.”
Burnley are still looking for their first win following promotion back to the Premier League and have picked up only one point from their first five games.
But manager Vincent Kompany was pleased with the performance of his side, who hit the post in the first half through Zeki Amdouni and had several other good opportunities.
“We had two or three massive chances, really big,” said the Clarets’ boss. “The one from Jay Rod (Rodriguez) where he is controlling the ball in front of the keeper and then slices it, the one from (Jacob) Bruun Larsen, one-on-one with the keeper, just takes his touch a little bit too far.
“Then obviously the one from Zeki Amdouni that hits the post and rolls out. I don’t think you get many more big chances against a team like United. We have to take the positives from it and learn from the things we could do better.
“I am a rational mind, I thought 14 new players, and you see City, United, Chelsea, Newcastle, Aston Villa, Tottenham all within the first 10 games and you know this might be a difficult start but, if I look at the performance today, our moment will come.”
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