Rather than a high-stakes Champions League clash, this had the feeling of an early round EFL Cup game that Arne Slot was intent on taking seriously. Frankly, there are plenty of teams in the lower reaches of English football who would have been embarrassed to concede goals as basic as those handed to Hugo Ekitike and Cody Gakpo.

Liverpool needed a helping hand and it arrived with a moment of ‘madness’ from Emi Martinez, who is beyond the realms of Gary Neville’s understanding.

Florian Wirtz has been reduced to a bench role at Liverpool and his late cameo against Aston Villa painted a sorry picture of where the big summer signing is at right now - but how does he get back into this team?

Liverpool midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai has admitted the team have spoken at length in search of a way to bring an end to their miserable run of defeats. The Reds have lost four games in a row across all competitions and are seeking to avoid extending that run to five, 72 years after they last endured such a miserable streak of defeats.

Liverpool manager Arne Slot addressed talk of him losing his job amid the Reds' torrid run of form as pressure cranks up on the Dutch manager. The reigning English champions got off to a flying start in their title defence campaign but are now struggling for form as they have lost six out of their last seven matches across all competitions and are already seven points behind Premier League leaders Arsenal.