Ian Doyle with the main talking point after Liverpool go down 3-0 at Manchester City in the Premier League on Sunday afternoon
MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - NOVEMBER 9: Arne Slot manager / head coach of Liverpool reacts during the Premier League match between Manchester City and Liverpool at Etihad Stadium on November 9, 2025 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Robbie Jay Barratt - AMA/Getty Images)
Liverpool head coach Arne Slot reacts as Pep Guardiola watches on during Manchester City's emphatic win at the Etihad
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Pep Guardiola knows a thing or two about winning championships. And while the Manchester City manager’s pre-match proclamation titles can’t be won in November but only lost is almost as old as the game itself, it will surely be ringing true for Liverpool counterpart Arne Slot now.
Heavy defeat here at a dreary Etihad has effectively signalled the end of his team’s title defence less than a third into the current Premier League season.
The players and head coach will talk about never giving up their crown until it’s mathematically impossible to retain, and given runaway leaders Arsenal’s lack of experience at getting the job done there will always be a slender chance.
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But modern-day prospective champions rarely lose five games all season, let alone that amount in their first 11 games. Liverpool last term were downed only four times and half of those were after the title race was over.
And it is over now, at least for Slot’s side. But in terms of coping with expectation for a new-look team, that realisation may actually ease the pressure on the raft of new signings who were asked to build on the good work of so many long-established players.
Many of them have struggled to carry that weight. And, it must be said, so has Slot himself, the Reds boss perhaps a little often coming across as questioning the strength of last season’s performance in an attempt to justify the rate of change within the squad over the summer.
But this was always, through both necessity and design, going to be a transitional season for Liverpool, at least operating from a strong position after last season’s deserved but unexpected record-equalling 20th championship triumph.
Losing at City in isolation isn’t a major concern. Most teams have been undone here since Guardiola – celebrating his 1,000th game as a manager – was appointed. Indeed, beating City, as the Reds did home and away last season, is usually a prerequisite for any team wanting to lift the title.
Slot, though, was right to term the recent run of defeats as “scandalous” and not befitting a Liverpool team of any vintage, let alone reigning champions. It hasn't been anywhere near good enough.
Worryingly for a team that had downed Real Madrid emphatically just days before, the Reds showed a lack of belief during an alarming first half in which the game drifted away from them.
Clearly, it will take more than a couple of solid home wins to heal the scars of recent setbacks will take some time to heal. This is a wounded Liverpool.