Four losses on the bounce and a first home defeat to Manchester United in almost a decade should have alarm bells ringing on Merseyside.

The season is still young, but Liverpool are now four points off Premier League leader Arsenal, and threatening to make a limp defence of the title which they won so comfortably last season.

The club have not lost four in a row since Brendan Rodgers was in charge in 2014. Lose another and it will be the first time the Reds have lost five on the bounce since September 1953.

More concerning than the actual results, though, will well be disjointed performances seen from the defending champions so far this season.

After almost £450million of spending in the summer, a bedding-in period was to be expected from Liverpool’s new recruits.

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