Having started the season playing badly but still managing to emerge victorious from every game, the widespread assumption was that Liverpool would inevitably get their act together, improve their performances and continue said winning streak. On the contrary, their level of performance has dipped even further and, in the process, they have become the first team in English top-flight history to win their opening five matches and then lose the next four. And while there’s no getting away from the fact that four consecutive Premier League defeats constitutes something of a crisis for the reigning champions, Football Daily is simply not prepared to accept that a team comprised almost entirely of whey-faced youngsters and senior reserves getting knocked out of Fizzy Cup by Crystal Palace should in any way be lumped into the same bracket as previous defeats. A cursory glance at both team-sheets before kick-off on Wednesday night suggested anything other than defeat for Liverpool’s C team would constitute an upset and have little or nothing in common with Arne Slot’s actual first team getting beaten in consecutive league matches by Palace, Chelsea, Manchester United and Brentford.

Having taken his players on away trips to London, Istanbul, London,...