Late goals or otherwise, the brutal truth is that Liverpool have been a pale shadow of the side the cruised to the Premier League last season since the Community Shield loss to Crystal Palace, the tables being turned on them dramatically in the last week as the flaws that have been in evidence since that Wembley defeat have been exposed.
Liverpool have looked unbalanced after an influx of nearly £450m worth of new signings, the introduction of £116m Florian Wirtz into a role behind the strikers – whether it was £70m Hugo Ekitike or £125m Alexander Isak – leaving them more exposed through the centre.
The arrival of two new full-backs, Jeremie Frimpong and Milos Kerkez, with instinctive attacking tendencies has also left Liverpool more vulnerable on the counter.
Slot gave Liverpool a more familiar look at Chelsea by dropping Wirtz to restore the title-winning midfield trio of Ryan Gravenberch, Dominik Szoboszlai and Alex Mac Allister.
Liverpool were not quite as open, although Szoboszlai was moved to right-back when Conor Bradley was replaced at half-time, but for all Slot’s positive messages this was another largely flat display. They still almost got a point through Cody Gakpo’s equaliser after Moises Caicedo’s magnificent early opener for Chelsea.
This was until Estevao intervened as the biters of early in the season were painfully bitten back.
“I thought Chelsea just wanted it a little bit more,” said ex-England forward Wayne Rooney, who is a pundit on Saturday’s Match of the Day. “They showed more bite and determination in how they played. It wasn’t the Liverpool we’ve been used to watching and Chelsea definitely deserved the three points.
“I know that’s now back-to-back Premier League games where Liverpool have lost because of late goals but that’s just the way it can go. They obviously started the season really well, scoring late goals themselves, but have now had a bad spell, losing three times in the space of a week, and it can be difficult to get out of that type of slump.”
Former Chelsea winger Pat Nevin told BBC 5 Live Sport that Liverpool’s status as champions means they are firmly in the sights of their rivals.
“Arne Slot won the league in his first season and he’s had to change things up a bit,” said Nevin.
“Remember, he said himself, Liverpool have this big, gigantic target on their back now, everyone wants to beat them. That’s the problem you’ve got if you’re the champions. That’s why it’s so hard to retain the title.”
