Liverpool were tipped to turn the Premier League title race into a prolonged coronation this season, but instead the champions find themselves mired in an unexpected crisis after their latest shock defeat.
The Reds were beaten 3-2 at Brentford on Saturday as they crashed to a fourth successive league loss.
Coming hot on the heels of a first defeat against Manchester United at Anfield since 2016, Liverpool suddenly look more vulnerable than at any time in Arne Slot's reign.
Liverpool are languishing in sixth place after four defeats in their first nine league matches, with leaders Arsenal having seized their mantle as the top-flight pace-setters.
Liverpool have already lost as many Premier League games this season as in their entire title-winning campaign.
It is a remarkable fall from grace after Slot's side romped to the trophy last season, finishing 10 points clear of second-placed Arsenal and wrapping up the title with four games to spare.
Fuelled by a £446 million ($593 million) spending spree in the close-season, Liverpool started the campaign as odds-on favourites to extend their reign with a record 21st English title.
But Liverpool's decision to overhaul their already battle-tested squad has backfired.
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They twice smashed their transfer record in the summer with blockbuster deals for Bayer Leverkusen playmaker Florian Wirtz and Newcastle striker Alexander Isak.
Slot also brought in Hugo Ekitike, Giorgi Mamardashvili, Milos Kerkez and Jeremie Frimpong, while Trent Alexander-Arnold, Luis Diaz, Darwin Nunez and Jarell Quansah were among the notable departures from Anfield.
There were early warning signings that Slot's revamp would not go smoothly when Liverpool were beaten on penalties by Crystal Palace in the Community Shield.
Although the Reds won their first seven games in all competitions this term, they rarely impressed and needed late goals to emerge victorious in six of those games.
Palace gave Liverpool a dose of their own medicine with a late goal in a 2-1 victory that finally exposed the flaws in Slot's team.
Defeats at Galatasaray and Chelsea followed before United emerged from their own crisis to plunder a 2-1 win at Anfield.
By the time Brentford punished Liverpool's sloppy defending to leave the champions in turmoil, Slot was looking increasingly bewildered on the touchline.
'NOWHERE NEAR GOOD ENOUGH'
Slot's issues are spread throughout the side, with Wirtz looking completely out of sync, while British record signing Isak has managed just one goal in eight appearances.
Mohamed Salah has been anonymous since late last season and Slot has already dropped him twice this term in a bid to spark the Egypt forward into life.
Frimpong and Kerkez have struggled at full-back and even captain Virgil van Dijk has been below par as Liverpool find themselves targeted by a barrage of long balls.
The tragic death of Diogo Jota in a car crash during the close-season has also taken its toll.
But most alarming for Liverpool fans is Slot's admission that he has no answers to the pressure being applied to his crumbling defence by opponents' direct tactics.
"Teams seem have a certain playing style against us, which is a very good strategy to play, and we haven't found an answer yet," he said.
"You cannot even compete, which we don't do at the moment, because we simply concede too many goals.
"It definitely also has to do with if you change quite a lot during the summer, then I think it's not a surprise that it can go a bit like this. But I didn't expect it to go with four losses in a row, let that be clear."
Liverpool are only the fourth reigning champions to lose four consecutive games.
It is also the first time they have lost four consecutive league games since February 2021.
Liverpool left-back Andrew Robertson offered no excuses for their struggles ahead of Palace's visit to Anfield in the League Cup on Wednesday.
"In a difficult moment, the only way to get out of it is work even harder, run that bit more and look after yourself that bit better," he said.
"The results have been nowhere near good enough over the last five, six games. We're the only ones who can get us out of it.
"We need to start playing better and we need to start showing a lot more consistency."
