The Reds lost to a relegation threatened club for a second consecutive Premier League outing, and their season is souring at a rapid pace.
A campaign which promised so much is turning into a nightmare for Liverpool, and here it reached its lowest point yet.
Their proud unbeaten Premier League record at Anfield, which stretched back 29 games and 19 months, is gone, taken away by a Leeds side which started the day 19th in the table. Jesse Marsch's men picked up their first win in eight matches courtesy of Crysencio Summerville’s 89th-minute strike to silence home fans with a 2-1 result.
Only seven days before, the Reds had lost to Nottingham Forest, who occupy 20th place.
It's a hard-to-fathom run of poor form that has the team desperate for answers.
"So many things are unlike us in this moment," Jurgen Klopp told afterwards. "I am sorry it is like this, but that is the situation. I am not sure how deep you can dig, but we will. It is like it is and we will work on solutions."
For Liverpool it is a fourth league defeat this season, and they continue to look a shadow of the side which had fought so hard for a quadruple of trophies as recently as May. They sit ninth in the table, 13 points off top spot and looking unlikely even to fight for a top-four place at present.
They could have no complaints about this result, even if Leeds goalkeeper Illan Meslier made a series of saves in the second half. The visitors had led inside four minutes, Rodrigo Moreno pouncing after a mix-up between Joe Gomez and Alisson Becker, but Mohamed Salah’s equaliser looked to have restored order soon after.
But Liverpool were laboured throughout. Meslier denied Darwin Nunez three times and Roberto Firmino, superbly, on another occasion. Still, Leeds had chances of their own. Brenden Aaronson hit the bar, Alisson saved from Jack Harrison and Patrick Bamford took a heavy touch when clean through, before Summerville collected the ball in the box to steer home in front of a delirious away end.
It is Leeds’ first win here since 2001, and how they celebrated it. For Liverpool, meanwhile, it is another miserable Saturday. There have been far too many of those this season.
Getty ImagesThe Winners
The rest of the big six:
Would missing out on the top four be a doomsday scenario for Liverpool? We may soon find out.
The Reds knew a win here was paramount if they were to keep pace with the sides who are threatening to run away from them at the top of the table. Never mind Manchester City, they're gone. It's Tottenham, Newcastle, Chelsea and Manchester United the Reds need to concern themselves with.
Chelsea slipped up on Saturday, but Spurs pinched a late win at Bournemouth, meaning Liverpool simply couldn't afford to fluff their lines. They did. Defeat leaves them eight points adrift of fourth place, and facing a trip to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium next weekend.
Lose there, and it could be curtains.
Illan Meslier:
Leeds' goalkeeper doesn't have happy memories of this ground, having conceded 10 times in his last two visits, and when he came wandering out of his goal inside a minute, he must have feared the worst.
Fortunately for him, Pascal Struijk got back to clear Mohamed Salah's effort, and from there, Leeds and Meslier went from strength to strength. The Frenchman was powerless to prevent Salah from levelling at 1-1, but he was off his line sharply to deny Darwin Nunez before half-time, the striker paying a price for hesitancy having been played clean through.
After the break, Meslier saved twice more from Nunez, and plunged to his right to keep out Roberto Firmino's header. He beat away an effort from Andy Robertson and saved from Salah with his feet.
Every Leeds player earned their win, but the goalkeeper in particular.
Brenden Aaronson:
Another game, another example of how sharpness, energy and skill can cause this Liverpool side problems.
We have seen it so often this season. From Eberechi Eze to Jadon Sancho, Gabriel Martinelli to Leandro Trossard. Here it was Aaronson, taking the fight to the Reds and winning the battle.
The American international has been one of Leeds' standout players this season, and he certainly was here, his brightness, pressing and ability to work the ball out of tight spaces helping Marsch's side play on the front foot far more than most had anticipated they might.
He was unlucky not to score in the first half, rattling the bar at the Kop End from Rasmus Kristensen's cross, and he created a chance superbly for Rodrigo right before the break, evading a non-existent Fabinho challenge to set the Spaniard clear.
Aaronson looked, dare we say it, like the kind of player Liverpool used to have. He covered more than 13km on the night, almost 2km more than any other player, but there was quality to go with his relentless running.
For Reds fans, his performance was a reminder of what their side has lost this season.
AdvertisementGetty ImagesThe Losers
Virgil van Dijk's pride:
There it goes, then. The stat that everyone loves to roll out.
Virgil van Dijk had never lost a Premier League game at Anfield for Liverpool, but he has now. The Dutchman's proud, 70-game record was extinguished here, as Klopp's side lost their first home league game in front of fans since April 2017, when Sam Allardyce's Crystal Palace came and spoilt the party.
Van Dijk was left stunned here as Gomez's backpass caught Alisson by surprise, allowing Rodrigo the simplest of finishes before the Kop had had the chance to warm up its vocal chords.
But if the start was bad, the ending was painful, substitute Patrick Bamford setting up Summerville to break Liverpool hearts, with James Milner unable to stop the cross from the left and Van Dijk and Gomez slow to react inside the penalty area.
There will be no hiding from Van Dijk, who always fronts up to the media, win or lose, but this will have hurt. He ended the game playing as a No.9, trying to get his head on long balls forward as Liverpool sought a leveller.
Ouch.
Fabinho:
If Van Dijk endured a bruising night, then the same could most definitely be said for Fabinho, whose search for form shows no sign of turning up a solution.
What has happened to the Brazilian? Where has that bite, that aggression and that class gone? Where are his legs?
He isn't himself, and it showed as he turned to remonstrate with the Kop, who had groaned when Harvey Elliott gave away the ball in a dangerous area in the first half. You won't win that battle, Fab.
Nor will he win one with Klopp, who berated his midfield linchpin soon after for failing to seize control of another situation, allowing Leeds to nip in and ensuring the crowd's blood pressure remained high.
It was no surprise when Fabinho's number went up on the hour mark. It would be a surprise if he started at Tottenham next weekend. And doesn't that shine a light on Klopp's problems.
Joe Gomez:
Oh how he must long for one quiet, uneventful game.
In an up and down season, this was another down for Gomez, whose slim World Cup hopes must be over now unless an injury crisis hits Gareth Southgate's squad.
Leeds' first goal may have been unfortunate, Alisson seeking to take the blame after slipping, but the fact is that the ball reached Rodrigo in the centre of the goal, a cardinal sin for defenders when playing a backpass, surely?
It wasn't Gomez's last dodgy moment, either, as he struggled in the air and was too weak in the tackle, too often. He looks like a player struggling for confidence, and in a team that's struggling for confidence that is not a good thing.
Ibrahima Konate, unused here, can expect the nod against Napoli on Tuesday. Klopp will hope the Frenchman can bring the stability the Englishman has been unable to.
Getty ImagesLiverpool Ratings: Defence
Alisson Becker (6/10):
Unfortunate slip allowed Leeds to strike first, and he was powerless to stop Summerville's winner. Good save from Harrison at 1-1.
Trent Alexander-Arnold (5/10):
Another mixed night for the full-back, who played some great passes but seemed to lose focus, and fitness, in the second half.
Joe Gomez (4/10):
Mix-up with Alisson for Leeds' opener, and it seemed to affect him. Played some nice diagonals but looked uneasy in the air and made too many mistakes. Looks bereft of confidence.
Virgil van Dijk (5/10):
Slow to react for the winning goal, and just hasn't been able to play with the same authority as we are used to.
Andy Robertson (6/10):
Set up the equaliser and got the crowd going by crashing into Aaronson and rowing with Adams. Faded in the second half.
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Fabinho (4/10):
His struggles continue. Showed his frustration by reacting to the crowd at one point in the first half. He got a hefty telling off from his manager soon after. He's trying, but it's not happening at the moment.
Thiago Alcantara (7/10):
Liverpool's best player, which perhaps doesn't say much, but he was the one who showed composure and wanted to play at all times.