'We crumbled' - another loss, another unwanted record for leaky Liverpool

Breaking news from the world of sport: 'We crumbled' - another loss, another unwanted record for leaky Liverpool Figure caption, Aston Villa secure Champions League spot in win over LiverpoolByAadam Patel Liverpool reporterPublished23 minutes agoThey voted with their feet again. Just like Anfield had emptied out last Saturday before full-time against Chelsea, plenty inside the away end at Villa Park had seen enough and were out long before referee Chris Kavanagh put Liverpool out of their misery. Dominik Szoboszlai, Liverpool's player of the season, apologised to the remaining travelling supporters after his mistake and now there is only one game to go before Liverpool can put an end to a forgettable campaign.

Manager Arne Slot spoke before the game about having nine players missing but that is no excuse for yet another feeble performance from his team. As Jamie Carragher said pre-match on Sky Sports: "They are very poor in possession and very poor out of possession. "Slot says Liverpool only need a little bit of transition this summer and that he has every reason to believe he will be the manager next season, but his side are a mess.

Match Details

This 4-2 defeat against Aston Villa was their 19th defeat of the season across all competitions. Their record away from home against the rest of the top nine is played eight, lost seven, drawn one. "I can understand at this moment in time they don't have confidence or a lot of feeling that things can be much better next season but I think they are underestimating what a transfer window can do, what a new start can do," Slot said after.

Regardless of the injury crisis, Liverpool have had a full week to prepare for each of their past three games against Manchester United, Chelsea and Villa and still delivered three poor performances. Figure caption, Arne Slot post-match interview - Aston Villa 4-2 LiverpoolAt Old Trafford, United gifted them a way back into the game which Liverpool still lost and, against Chelsea, Slot's men failed to beat a side that had lost their previous six Premier League matches. In Birmingham on Friday night, their only real threat all evening came from 17-year-old Rio Ngumoha.

Credit to the teenager for being one of the rare sparks of joy this season but Liverpool needed senior players to step up. In midfield and defence, Liverpool have been poor, conceding more than 50 goals in a 38-game Premier League campaign for the first time (52). Excluding penalties, they have conceded the most goals from set-pieces in the Premier League this season (20).

Reactions and Expectations

"We've conceded far too many goals - but I think we've also scored not enough goals," Slot told Sky Spots. "We were fully in the game, fully able maybe to get a result but I agree that after it went 2-1 we crumbled. ""They're disjointed at the back and I feel like there's a lot of space for me to run into.

I'm going to get chances against them," said Ollie Watkins, who took two of those chances during a chaotic second half.

The story has climbed to the top of the sports agenda, with fans and analysts following closely.