Liverpool have been left to go over the bones of yet another humbling home performance in the space of four days.
After being smashed by Atalanta on Thursday, the Reds meekly surrendered to Crystal Palace on Sunday.
It has been a long, long time since Liverpool faced two defeats – and two such poor displays – back-to-back at Anfield. Questions need to be answered.
Many of those questions lie with Liverpool’s forward line. Despite those behind them creating plenty over those two games, the Reds scored a grand total of zero goals.
Darwin Nunez has undoubtedly been one of the main culprits of this profligacy. Michael Owen even proclaimed that the 24-year-old ‘drives him mad.’ But it would be unfair to lay all of the blame at Darwin’s door. Others have been culpable too.
Garth Crooks slams Mohamed Salah form
If Liverpool are to turn things around from here and win either the Premier League or Europa League, they’re going to need their big players to step up.
And having been poor since his return from injury, few need to step up more than Mohamed Salah.
Yes, Nunez has missed his chances, Cody Gakpo and Luis Diaz have been poor at times, too. But it’s Salah who has possibly been the most disappointing in recent weeks.
And writing in his BBC Sport Team of the Week column, pundit Garth Crooks claimed that the Egyptian has looked ‘well off the pace’ for ages.
“Liverpool’s Mo Salah was well off the pace and has been for some time,” says Crooks. “Jurgen Klopp’s team looked like the midweek defeat against Atalanta in the Europa League had taken too much out of them and they appeared to be running on fumes.
“Whether Liverpool can recover from dropping points in their last two league fixtures and still mount a credible title challenge remains to be seen, but I think they may have blown it.”
Should Liverpool sell Mohamed Salah
With rumours continuing to swirl around Salah’s future, Liverpool look set to have a big decision to make this summer.
Obviously, the £34m man is still a huge player for them and will be under any new manager, too. They likely won’t look to actively sell him.
But if another enormous offer comes in from Saudi Arabia, could the Reds really refuse. There are players out there who would look like decent replacements for Salah. With his star waning over these past months, maybe he’s finally on the decline.
If these are to be Mo’s final weeks as a Liverpool player, then let’s hope he can step it up and get back to his old self. This would be disappointing way for such a legend to exit.