Liverpool were unable to bridge the gap to top-four rivals Tottenham Hotspur and Newcastle United as they slumped to a goalless draw with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
With their visit to West London coming roughly 72 hours after their humbling defeat to Manchester City at the Etihad, manager Jurgen Klopp rang the changes and opted to drop Mohamed Salah, Andy Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold to the bench. Meanwhile, Virgil van Dijk was unavailable for selection after suffering from a bout of illness and deciding to stay on Merseyside.
The Reds, in truth, never looked like finding a way past Kepa between the Chelsea sticks as they were restricted to a long-range effort from Joe Gomez in the first half before Fabinho had Liverpool's best chance of the game as his volley flashed wide of the post after a slight touch from defender Wesley Fofana.
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The hosts, turning out for the first time since Graham Potter's sacking and therefore led by interim manager Bruno Saltor, had two goals chalked off, with Reece James and Kai Havertz both putting the ball in the back of the net before VAR intervened.
For Klopp's side, the result is a serious blow to their hopes of qualifying for the Champions League for a seventh consecutive season as Newcastle United and Tottenham Hotspur continue to pull away and currently occupy third and fourth place in the Premier League table.
Brighton, too, continue to creep up in the league standings and after their 2-0 victory at Bournemouth on look like another side that could rival Liverpool for the fourth and final Champions League spot.
Here are Liverpool's, and their rivals', next six Premier League fixtures:
Liverpool
Arsenal (H)
Leeds United (A)
Nottingham Forest (H)
West Ham United (A)
Tottenham (H)
Fulham (H)
Newcastle United
West Ham United (A)
Brentford (A)
Aston Villa (A)
Tottenham (H)
Everton (A)
Southampton (H)
Manchester United
Brentford (H)
Everton (H)
Nottingham Forest (A)
Brighton (A)
Tottenham (A)
Aston Villa (H)
Brighton
Tottenham (A)
Chelsea (A)
Manchester United (H)
Nottingham Forest (A)
Wolves (H)
Manchester United (H)
Aston Villa
Nottingham Forest (H)
Newcastle United (H)
Brentford (A)
Fulham (H)
Manchester United (A)
Wolves (A)
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