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Liverpool fell to an abject defeat away to Brighton & Hove Albion within the Premier League on Saturday afternoon, compounding their deteriorating season and leaving a cacophony of deafening alarm bells to ring throughout the proud fanbase.
The 3-0 loss, which was comprehensively deserved in opposition to a cohesive and gelled Albion unit, was preceded by a 3-1 defeat at Brentford within the league, with a lucky house draw in opposition to Wolverhampton Wanderers within the FA Cup wedged in the midst of these two abject outcomes.
Jurgen Klopp‘s aspect yield simply 28 factors from their first 18 matches of the league marketing campaign; for comparability, the Merseyside giants recorded 92 factors and a second-placed end final yr, additionally profitable each the FA Cup and Carabao Cup.
This present crop of withered gamers are a shadow of the superlative, relentless squad which got here so near an unprecedented quadruple simply final yr.
It was an unequivocally woeful show from a squad which had aspirations of mounting one other title problem on the inception of the present marketing campaign. As a substitute, the main focus now lies merely on discovering a vein of kind to hold the crew again into European rivalry, with present prospects suggesting that even that modest ambition is likely to be a tall order.
With Brighton’s intense aura and internal perception that the sizeable chink in Liverpool’s armour may very well be exploited, the Reds had been brushed apart, with a number of inexcusable shows from Klopp’s crew.
Captain Jordan Henderson was unable to get a grip of his crew and seemed weathered on the coronary heart of midfield, whereas 31-year-old centre-back Joel Matip was on the epicentre of the injury, gifting away the ball within the build-up to the opening purpose.
Nonetheless, it was Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain – deputising on the left flank as soon as once more within the absence of most of the membership’s common attacking choices – who maybe left the south coast along with his head hung lowest.
As per Sofascore, the Englishman recorded a lowly common ranking of 6.1, making solely 29 touches throughout his 69 minutes on the pitch.
Regardless of finishing 80% of his passes, the £120k-per-week dud was incapable of mustering any morsel of leading edge, having two pictures (one heading in the right direction) however each of these branded as huge probabilities missed.
In an affair which desperately referred to as for somebody to take the reins and exhibit their price to the beleaguered Klopp, Oxlade-Chamberlain may do little greater than muster an “atrocious” show – within the phrases of distinguished blogger Johnny Ward – who emphastically acknowledged that it was a “struggle crime” for the participant to nonetheless maintain a spot within the Liverpool crew.
With the 29-year-old’s contract up for expiry on the finish of the season, he’s shortly operating out of alternatives to impress, and he faces the daunting prospect of departing as a free agent except he can stake an unlikely declare over the approaching interval of fixtures.
It was a pivotal afternoon, a conflict of nice magnitude for Klopp’s squad, and the supervisor was let down by the sheer absence of inspiration and cohesion. Change is required, and Oxlade-Chamberlain could be very a lot in peril of being deemed expendable.
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