Time was when a trip to Anfield was like stepping into your own personal horror movie. Liverpool have spent much time planting the seeds of fear on their home turf, and Jurgen Klopp made that garden grow.
Then Arne Slot put on the gloves and helped Liverpool evolve into an even smoother and more stylish outfit than when Klopp departed, taking the Reds through the campaign and out the other end with a Premier League title in tow.
But that's no longer the case. This season, Manchester United, Crystal Palace, Nottingham Forest and PSV Eindhoven have all beaten Liverpool on Merseyside. This sanctum of stability has been reduced to just another ground, and Slot has to fix that quickly if he is to continue his project over the coming years.
Kerkez, Van Dijk and Salah for Liverpool
Liverpool might have avoided defeat at home to Sunderland on Wednesday evening, but the point gained merely papers over the glaring problems that have left many fans shaking their heads at the false dawn at West Ham United last weekend.
It was a performance which left plenty to be desired.
How Liverpool performed vs Sunderland
After the draw, Sunderland boss Regis Le Bris spoke of his surprise that his side were afforded so much time and space to play through Liverpool and carve out opportunities in the danger area.
There lies the crux of Liverpool's problems. They are too weak and brittle, not just suffering from a soft underbelly but a doughy outer shell too.
Alexander Isak toiled in the final third, a few wayward strikes illustrating the record signing's lack of sharpness. However, it is inconceivable that FSG should have spent around £200m on the Swede and Hugo Ekitike only for Slot to implement a system that cuts off pathways to the central strikers.
Some will take encouragement from the home side's gear-raising final flurry, seeking out a winner after the fleet feet of Florian Wirtz led to a Nordi Mukiele own goal to restore parity.
Liverpool's Florian Wirtz
But Liverpool are not just shorn of confidence but tactical fluency too. Slot's strategising across the 2024/25 campaign earned him a reputation for being a "genius" and a "football scientist", as remarked by Dutch legend Marco van Basten.
Gone is that air about the former Feyenoord boss. Against the Black Cats, Liverpool secured a hard-earned point to narrow the gap on Chelsea after their defeat at Leeds United. Elland Road is where Liverpool head next.
But imbalances and erraticness have become indivisible for the champions this season, whose title defence is in tatters and whose players have fallen by the wayside.
Ibrahima Konate was culpable of some shaky moments, as has so often been the case this term, but there was another Redman who struggled against Sunderland, leading observers to suggest he has morphed into that late version of Fabinho.
Liverpool star looks "like Fabinho in his final season"
Alexis Mac Allister has been abject this season, so far removed from the "superstar" of a midfielder, as said by pundit Joe Cole, who influenced Klopp and then Slot's trophy-winning campaigns of recent years at Liverpool.
Alexis Mac Allister celebrates winning the Premier League with Liverpool
Alexis Mac Allister celebrates winning the Premier League with Liverpool
Having spoken about this testing start to the season earlier this week, Mac Allister suggested that he is now back to full fitness after missing out on pre-season and suffering early injury issues. But this was a performance that left much to be desired, underlining the drop-off that is suggestive of a player whose athleticism has gone walkabouts.
Against Sunderland, the 26-year-old failed to impress. Again. He was so slow and stodgy on the ball, and while he won both of his tackles and three of five contested ground duels, as per Sofascore, no chances were created by a player who need to do more and remind the Premier League of his all-encompassing skillset.
Alexis Mac Allister in the Premier League
Stats (per 90)
Goals
Assists
Touches
Pass completion (%)
Shot-creating actions
Progressive passes
Progressive carries
Successful take-ons
Recoveries
Tackles won
Interceptions
Aerials won
Data via FBref
After the draw, one content creator even said Mac Allister "looks like Fabinho in his final season", having "physically fallen off a cliff".
Fabinho was a stalwart for the club over an illustrious period of Klopp-led success, but he did indeed succumb to a loss of aggression and physicality at the end, at the epicentre of Liverpool's abject 2022/23 campaign.
This feels similar. The only difference is that Mac Allister is supposed to be stepping into the prime of his career, and is instead languishing so far below expectations it beggars belief.
Can Slot spark a turnaround? Should the Dutchman do so, it feels like Mac Allister will be needed in fine and sustainable fettle, and that has been anything but the case over the past several months.
Fabinho-Liverpool-career-record-stats
Mac Allister has been terrible, but his struggles are symptomatic of the wider tactical and mental plague that has spread across Slot's system this season.
It's not good enough. It needs to change. Mac Allister is 26, but already he is starting to look like the leggy version of Fabinho, who was sold to Saudi Arabia has Klopp began a midfield rebuild that started with Mac Allister's signature.
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