Former Arsenal and England midfielder Paul Merson has compared Liverpool's recent struggles to Manchester United's decline after Alex Ferguson's retirement.
The Reds suffered a first home defeat of the season on Saturday, conceding a late winner to Leeds youngster Crysencio Summerville. Jurgen Klopp's side now sit eight points adrift of the Champions League spots and seven behind Erik ten Hag's United.
Merson argued the loss at Anfield was "inexcusable" as last season's runners-up suffered back-to-back Premier League defeats for the first time since March 2021. More worryingly, though, the pundit stressed that he wasn't sure the Reds' home ground remains the fortress it once was.
"To put in a performance like Liverpool did against Manchester City and then follow it up with defeats against Nottingham Forest and Leeds is inexcusable," Merson told Sky Sports. "Liverpool took one step forward and four steps back!
"Teams are not scared of Liverpool anymore. It's slowly mirroring what happened with Old Trafford. As a player I used to dread going to Manchester United. You used to play well there and still get beat, nowadays if you play well there you win. If you play well at Liverpool now there's a strong chance you will win.
"Liverpool are losing their fear factor, and this season is already worse than the season they defended the title," he added. "They have that experience under their belts and there is no excuse for their performances this season."
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Liverpool's defeat at Nottingham Forest ensured they remain winless on the road in the Premier League this season. However, before the Leeds game, they had been unbeaten at Anfield after not losing a single home league game in the entire 2021-22 season.
In their last two home league games against Leeds, Liverpool had won twice and scored 10 goals without ever once falling behind. However this time it was the visitors who struck first through Rodrigo when the Spaniard capitalised on a defensive lapse.
Mohamed Salah equalised for Liverpool, and visiting goalkeeper Illan Meslier was forced into a number of saves. However, it was Jesse Marsch's side who claimed the points when Summerville scored just his second ever Premier League goal.
"I thought we had a really good start then conceded a freakish goal," Klopp told Sky Sports after the weekend defeat. "We scored the equaliser but for some reason it didn't give us the security back. We struggled to control the game and gave too many balls away.
"The boys tried, we had good possession and had big chances but, in the end, if it is 1-1 and you defend the situation around the second goal like this, you leave everything open. In the end, it was two versus one in the box and they can finish off the situation. The problem is we cannot control this type of game at the moment."
