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ANFIELD, LIVERPOOL // Arne Slot's Liverpool has now lost four games on the spin in all competitions with Bryan Mbuemo sending Manchester United on the way to a famous win at Anfield.
With Alexis Mac Allister flat out on the floor with a head injury, Mbuemo finished past Giorgi Mamardashvili to put Manchester United in front less than 90 seconds into the game. Cody Gakpo leveled in the second half as Liverpool piled the pressure on but Harry Maguire then netted the winner.
With Liverpool spiraling and looking unsure of itself, Arsenal is now the leading contender for the Premier League title. Here are the five things Liverpool.com spotted as the game unfolded.
Florian Wirtz missed
When he came on against Chelsea in Liverpool's last match, Florian Wirtz instantly made an impact. It was a surprise, as a result, to see Arne Slot name an unchanged starting XI here, with the German on the bench again.
Entering the field later than he did at Stamford Bridge, Wirtz made a positive difference here too. He was crisp with his passing and created a couple of half-chances.
You have to wonder how things might have looked had he started the game. Until the big-money signing does get a run, we're unlikely to be able to work out the answer.
Anfield run over
Liverpool's last win over Manchester United at Anfield was a 7-0 mauling, but the two games since then have been drawn. The visitor's record, nonetheless, in this stadium has been poor in recent years: it last won in L4 in January 2016 via a Wayne Rooney goal.
As soon as Mbuemo scored, given that Manchester United started so well, Liverpool fans would have had a bad feeling. As much as it tried to get back on track, it couldn't really.
Gakpo leveled but another piece of defensive difficulty allowed Maguire to restore the visitor's lead. Liverpool had the terrible concoction of being porous at the back and nowhere near clinical enough in attack. That never ends well.
Alexander Isak misfires
This was just the third start that Alexander Isak has made for Liverpool since he arrived from Newcastle United on transfer deadline day. And on Friday, Slot said that the Swede was now in a position fitness-wise where it is fair to judge his performances.
First half, he missed a big chance to score when was played in by Ibrahima Konate. Aside from that, he wasn't hugely involved apart from the few times he dropped deep and tried to connect play.
Mohamed Salah has 16 goals in his last 17 appearances against Manchester United but he never looked like scoring here, even when he slashed a huge opportunity wide. Between them, they were completely ineffective.
Defensive issues clear
Defensively, Liverpool looked all over the place on far too many occasions. There were simply far too many gaps across the Reds' defense.
Ibrahima Konate actually did pretty well in the main, but the full-backs were shaky and Virgil van Dijk had to cover multiple areas, which he struggled with. He was unable to do the work of three men, which is hardly a disgrace.
Arsenal's success might be built on scoring from set-pieces but Liverpool has to become more solid. If it doesn't, Mikel Arteta's men will soon establish themselves as clear title favorites because of that base.
Advantage Arsenal
Though Liverpool's three successive defeats before the international break feel like a significant chunk of time ago now, but there is no doubt that the general feeling and momentum — in the general soccer sphere at least — has shifted towards Arsenal.
On Saturday, the Gunners narrowly beat Fulham thanks to another set-piece goal and Mikel Arteta's side put even more pressure on Liverpool to keep pace. It never really looked like doing it.
The aim for Liverpool, at least in the hope that things will click into place both defensively and offensively, is that it can cling on in the title race long enough to start playing well again. If it carries on like this, those hopes won't last.
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