Liverpool lose again: When Champions League returns, it’s time for

Another day, another loss for Liverpool. It’s a sight that is becoming all too familiar for a team that started the season with title aspirations. They looked like decidedly the second best team in a 3-0 loss to Brighton and while Brighton have improved and are pushing for a top four place under Roberto de Zerbi, a 3-0 loss used to be inexcusable for the Reds. But that hasn’t been the case this season. This is their sixth loss, compared to only two last campaign. 

Hitting the highs of last season, when Liverpool were competing for a quadruple, isn’t a fair expectation but the drop-off has been unexpected, even with the loss of Sadio Mane who was sold to Bayern Munich over the summer. On Saturday the Reds were without Darwin Nunez but he has also struggled to fit in since joining. Nunez has five goals and two assists in 13 matches but he has an xG of 7.4, meaning that while he’s always in the right place, he hasn’t been able to make snap decisions to finish chances cleanly.

This wouldn’t be an issue if Liverpool’s defense was matching last season’s output since the team has scored 34 goals which is fifth best in the league. But they’ve conceded 25 goals, a middle of the pack number. Now without…