TA talks about Liverpool: It’s too sad to only get 6 points in 6 away games; signing Gueye should really be a priority in the summer window

November 10th: Liverpool defeated Manchester City 0-3, suffering their fifth defeat in the past six Premier League games. TheAthletic wrote about Liverpool's poor performance.

TA wrote ↓

All the positive emotions accumulated by Liverpool with consecutive wins against Villa and Real Madrid were washed away in a heavy rain in Manchester. Optimistic assessments that Slaughter's team was finally turning the corner after a tough few months proved to be wildly wrong.

Liverpool not only lost the game, but was calculated and suppressed by their opponents in every aspect. This was Slott's heaviest Premier League defeat as manager and the first time they failed to score in the Premier League in nearly 14 months.

Manchester City seized the opportunity to score. It is hard to believe that this is the same Liverpool who showed such dominance and control against Real Madrid five days ago. Liverpool's defense of the title was in tatters, losing five of their first 11 league games. The only defending champion to have lost more games at this stage of the season is Chelsea, who lost six games in 2015-16.

What makes the point difference seem insurmountable is not the 8-point gap between Liverpool and Arsenal at the top, but the way of losing. The only thing that has been consistent about Liverpool so far is their ability to cause trouble for themselves.

On the defensive end, Liverpool looks very vulnerable, having conceded 17 goals in the Premier League, more than Fulham, which ranks 15th. After 11 league games a year ago, Liverpool had only conceded 6 goals.

And outside the home comfort zone of Anfield, their weaknesses are constantly exposed. In away games to Crystal Palace, Chelsea, Brentford and Manchester City, Liverpool failed to score a single point. This is the first time Liverpool have lost four consecutive away games in the Premier League since April 2012, late in Sir Dalglish's second term in charge. For comparison, in Slott's first season in charge, he did not suffer his first league away defeat until the away game against Fulham in April.

There is a view that Liverpool is better suited to launch a serious challenge in the Champions League this season rather than competing for domestic honors. They have won three out of four games and entering the top 16 is basically no problem. And considering that Liverpool is in a transition period, summer signings are still adapting to the new environment. They should be much stronger come March, when the competition becomes a knockout tournament and the relationships between the players run deeper.

The logic is fine, but if Liverpool want to move on and salvage something from this season, rather than continue to swing from one extreme to the other, Slott must change their mindset away from home. Even the most basic requirement to qualify for the Champions League depends on this because so far they have only taken 6 points from 18 away from home, which is pathetic.

Liverpool's away defeats have many things in common: a slow start allowed the home team to take the initiative, and then Slott's team collapsed under the pressure and failed to achieve anything offensively.

This is in sharp contrast to Liverpool's last visit to the Etihad in February, when they quickly took a 2-0 lead and then almost sealed the game, leading the Premier League standings by 11 points. City had 66% of possession that day but never really threatened Liverpool's goal, with an expected goals ratio of just 0.6.

Manchester City is a completely different beast this time, because they are celebrating the 1,000th game of Guardiola's coaching career and are in good shape.

In this game, Konate made an obvious mistake at first, causing his teammates to lose points. However, the warning was ignored and Nunes crossed and Haaland scored with a header. Konate has been increasingly inconsistent this season, further supporting the idea that Liverpool should really prioritize signing Crystal Palace centre-back Gueye this summer.

Perhaps the uncertainty of the future has always troubled Konate. After 52 days, he can sign a pre-contract with an overseas club, but in terms of contract extension, Konate has given absolutely no convincing reasons for Liverpool to invest a lot of money in renewing his contract.

It’s understandable to feel unfair about Van Dijk’s disallowed header. Robertson was offside but he ducked and there was no way Donnarumma could save the ball. VAR Oliver explained that Robertson was "perceived to have made a clear movement directly in front of the goalkeeper" which left people scratching their heads.

Liverpool conceded the second goal before half-time. This was another example of not doing the basics well, lacking organization and awareness. Why is it so slow to react after a short pass from a corner kick before going up to block it?

It was a terrible day for Slott, with Guardiola winning a tactical victory across the board. He brought more players into the middle, allowing City to dominate the midfield. Liverpool won only 42% of their duels in the first half and only 35% in the second half.

The forward players were so isolated that Ekitic only touched the ball 11 times before being replaced. Gakpo, who replaced him, wasted Liverpool's best chance, and then Doku faced Konate and rewritten the score to 3-0.

Liverpool's offense poses no threat. Salah faced Manchester City for the first time since 2020 and neither scored nor assisted. Chiesa was not substituted until the end of the game, which is a mystery. Liverpool desperately need an injection of energy and an attacking pivot. Playing Wirtz as a false nine after Ekitic was substituted has never worked out well.

Slott needs to start planning again. Away performance is worrying. Those wins over Villa and Real Madrid were only temporary relief.