Virgil van Dijk of Liverpool (C) and teammates look dejected during the Premier League match between Manchester City and Liverpool at Etihad Stadium on November 9, 2025 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Simon Stacpoole/Offside/Offside via Getty Images)
The international break has probably come at the right time for Liverpool. The 3-0 loss at Manchester City felt like the nadir in a season that has fallen well below expectations so far.
After spending £450 million on new players in the summer, the Reds sit in eighth in the Premier League. After storming to the title last season, there was hope that the improvements to the squad would spark an exciting defence. But that is yet to materialise.
So what went wrong at City? And how can head coach Arne Slot set things right on the other side of the international break?
Our fan jury have their say on the problems at Anfield.
Sunday’s defeat at Manchester City felt about as heavy, in several respects, as the accompanying rain. In some senses, that seems a reasonable observation; [Liverpool](https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/all-about/liverpool-fc) were soberingly outthought and outfought.
As Arne Slot acknowledged post-match, the former could lead to, and accentuate, the latter. City’s set-up – which looked a little too much like a surprise – induced overloads and uncertainties, and simultaneously boosted the hosts’ ability to win and capitalise on duels.
There were, though, also the fine margins, subjective refereeing decisions and bounces of the ball that went against the Reds. The Sky Blues impressed and, almost undeniably, earned far more good luck but multiple factors arguably combined to make a bad afternoon look and feel that bit worse.
A rough end to an uplifting few days. While it, logically, tempers the optimism that followed the Aston Villa and Real Madrid wins, it shouldn’t extinguish it. Excessive yo-yoing in outlook – while difficult to avoid, at present – can exacerbate inconsistency.
Regaining the title does look unlikely but focusing on improving, on the game-by-game process, ought to serve us well. Success may then emerge as a by product.
There are now more building blocks in place for the remainder of the campaign than pre-Villa. Kinder-looking fixtures (emphasis on ‘looking’) in the weeks after the international break will bring their own challenges, but may enable additionally consistent building.
Though it was a bleak watch and a real sucker punch following on from two really positive results, I won’t be too doom and gloom over our defeat against Man City last weekend.
Sometimes when you’re struggling for form you just need that rub of the green which we just haven’t had at times this season. Add Virgil’s chalked-off goal to the ridiculous penalty we conceded against Brentford to put the game out of reach, we could really do with seeing a bit of common sense from the officials at time. You can only hope these will calls will even out across the season but right now it’s just not good enough.
Anyway, the fact of the matter is that you do have to earn your luck and The Reds will have boarded flights to international duty questioning whether they really deserved anything from that performance.
Luckily, upon our return, we have a run of fixtures that are more favourable than the tough run we’ve just been through. Hopefully Slot will forgo his holiday to Dubai this time around and make sure The Reds are fired up to kickstart it with three points against Forest at home next weekend. Anything less and the already steep mountain will become unscalable.
At the start of the season, we were uncomfortably gliding through games, picking and nicking three points on our way. But this has been paired with dips and dives in form. This topsy-turvy season is not good for the mind or heart. What we need is cruise control and steady, consistent performances.
It’s almost like Liverpool pulled out their brand-new super car at the start of the season. Whilst it initially purred, it has jolted, spluttered, and shuddered throughout its initial burst. Although there have been some repair tweaks, we still do not have a smooth running of the Liverpool engine.
The last football week was a representation of our season: a heavenly Madrid performance alongside a hellish City performance. Hope quickly vanishing into despair.
Is it too pessimistic to say that our Premier League defence is lost? As we start or try to shift out of first gear, the leaders are pulling away with speed and ease. We didn’t seem to have the hunger or spirit against Man City, which was all the more surprising given our spirited performance against Madrid. Will the real Liverpool please stand up.