Alan Shearer has labelled Liverpool's performance at Manchester City as "dreadful" following their 4-1 defeat.
Mohamed Salah sent the away fans into raptures with his well-taken first-time strike but the jubilation only lasted 10 minutes as Julian Alvarez levelled proceedings. The Reds endured a terrible second half that saw them concede with a minute of the restart when Kevin De Bruyne fired home from Riyad Mahrez's cross.
Ilkay Gundogan and Jack Grealish added to the scoreline to compile the misery for Jurgen Klopp's side as they suffered another defeat away from home. They now face an uphill task to break into the top four with clashes against Chelsea and Arsenal to come next week.
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Taking to Twitter, the Premier League's all-time leading goalscorer praised four of City's stars.
However, Shearer was blunt in his assessment of Liverpool. The former Blackburn Rovers and Newcastle United striker tweeted: "Grealish. Stones. De Bruyne. Mahrez, magnificent. Liverpool dreadful. #MCILIV."
With Brighton & Hove Albion taking on Brentford, irrespective of the result, one of the clubs - if not both - was set to leapfrog Liverpool. Alexis Mac Allister scored a last-minute penalty to earn Brighton a 3-3 draw at the Amex that moved them above the Reds into sixth, with Brentford now one place behind in seventh.
Liverpool are now eighth and seven points behind fourth-placed Tottenham Hotspur, who travel to Merseyside on Monday to face Everton.
The Reds will be hoping for a favour off old rivals Manchester United on Sunday when they head to fifth-placed Newcastle United, who would move above their opponents into third from fifth with victory at St James' Park.
If that happens, both the Magpies and the Red Devils, who are currently third, would be eight points clear of Liverpool.
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