Liverpool fell to a 3-1 away defeat to Hull overnight, seeing them slip to fourth place on the Premier League ladder, seven points behind leaders Arsenal who maintained the pace with a 3-0 defeat of Cardiff on Saturday.
Brendan Rodgers side were without the services of in-form striker Daniel Sturridge who has been sidelined for up to eight weeks after suffering ankle ligament damage at training on Friday.
The Reds boss brought in Victor Moses to replace Sturridge and also gave young Raheem Sterling his first start since October.
However, both players proved to be unconvincing replacements for Sturridge, as Liverpool struggled without the Englishmen’s pace and creativity upfront.
Hull took the lead in the twentieth minute, as ex Tottenham hopeful Jake Livermore claimed his first of the season, helped significantly by a Martin Skrtel deflection.
However, Liverpool hit back seven minutes later through a Steven Gerrard free kick.
It wasn’t until the 72nd minute that Hull reclaimed the lead as David Meyer buried a shot low for his fourth goal of the season.
With time running out and chasing the game, the Reds went on an all out attack, losing all sense of shape in the meantime, allowing another ex Tottenham player Tom Huddlestone to attack through the middle and test his luck.
The Englishmen’s off-target effort was accidentally headed home by Martin Skrtel, capping off a forgettable afternoon for the Slovakian international.
The win was a memorable one for Hull following a disappointing loss to bottom of the table Crystal Palace last week.
Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers labelled depth as a factor contributing to his sides defeat, claiming the Merseyside club are exposed when without vital players such as Sturridge and Philippe Coutinho.
“There’s no doubt our quality in our squad, with all due respect, isn’t big enough to cope with two big players like that missing,” said the Anfield boss.
“You take those two out… they are two very, very good players, who have been very efficient for us.
“This period now will test us. For the players who come in, it will be a great opportunity to stake their place in the team and hopefully we can get back to winning games.”
Liverpool’s loss means that they have taken just four points from their last four games, seriously denting their title credentials.
And Brendan Rodgers was the first to admit that his side was poor.
“It’s an understatement to say it was disappointing,” he said. “It was very disappointing. Today hurts us all and we just never got near our level.
“We lacked quality with the ball. We never created enough or kept the ball long enough in order to move them about.
“In the last two games we have conceded six goals. We have to be much, much better in that and we have to return to that on Wednesday night at home to Norwich.”
In other matches, Chelsea and Manchester City kept the pace with Arsenal.
Chelsea enjoyed a 3-1 home win over high flying Southampton and City completed a comfortable 3-0 over Swansea.
The results leave Arsenal four points clear of Chelsea at the top of the table, with City in third on 25 points and Liverpool just behind in fourth place on 24 points.
Hull’s win lifts them into the top half of the table, climbing three places into tenth position.
At White Hart Lane, Manchester United had to come from behind twice to scrape a 2-2 draw against Tottenham Hotspur.
Spurs took the lead in the 18th minute following a Kyle Walker strike, which was matched by England colleague Wayne Rooney in the 32nd minute.
Brazilian Sandro restored the Londoners lead early in the second half.
However, Andre Villas Boas’ sides lead was again chopped down by Rooney, this time from the penalty spot after Hugo Llroris had mistimed his challenge on Danny Welbeck.
Rooney’s brace was watched on by England boss Roy Hodgson and the 28 –year-old had even more reason to celebrate as his goals took him above Robbie Fowler as the fifth highest Premier league goal scorer of all time.
The result against the Premier League champions was met with high praise from Tottenham fans after a difficult week and was an excellent response to the 6-0 drubbing they suffered at the hands of Manchester City just a week ago.
Steven McBain
Roar Guru
Daniel I don't think you were in with a serious chance of winning the title and I don't think you will be either next season. The reality is right now that there are teams ahead of Liverpool with a serious revenue advantage both in terms of Champions League and matchday revenue (it's not just about stadium size, corporate hospitality is not huge in Liverpool sorry). That situation coupled with the fact that those teams also have better squads already means that you are not real challengers (yet). Liverpool need to somehow scrape a Champions League spot and keep it. Get those revenues coming in and again, buy smart (you've wasted an awful lot of money in the past few seasons) and then push for a few seasons time. Even then I suspect there are people ahead of you in the queue....... The CL revenue is creating a huge glass ceiling if you fall out of those spots. I'm a Chelsea fan and I dread to think what would have happened if we hadn't won the CL that season. We were heading the wrong way but that revenue and the ability to attract Hazard, Oscar etc kept us in there. Once you're out it is very hard to get back in, just look at Spurs...............
Andy
Guest
Ramsey certainly is but you need other players as foils. Players like Giroud create space for players like Ramsey to exploit. When one of your key players goes down you need to be able to adapt quickly to what comes next. Can Arsenal do that? It's likely they can as well as anybody but you just don't know if Giroud's absence will completely change the dynamic of the team. Or Ramsey's, or anyone else for that matter. Depth is always an issue for clubs, and getting the balance right. As for Liverpool, I don't much care. I am sick to death of their fans proudly proclaiming that every new year is their year. Given how they've performed after spending hundreds of millions of pounds over the last few seasons I think we can all agree they are a work in progress. If they qualify for CL they should be happy, it will be a massive turnaround from the previous seasons. They are simply not good enough to win the league yet, they are competing against the likes of Chelsea, City and United, and the weekend proved that. Doesn't mean they're not a good side. They are far too reliant on Suarez and Sturridge though, and an injury to one/both would cause a great deal of panic. When you spend as much as Liverpool do, if it's spent wisely you should be in with a shot every year. The problem is Liverpool repeatedly get fleeced. Their scouting network seems underwhelming when you look at the resources they have. They have found some absolute gems, and then they turn around and blow a figurative fortune on players who will likely never play at the top level.
AZ_RBB
Guest
" I see Liverpool as being a season or two off actually being competitive for the title." It feels like i hear that every season. Its all well and good to say that a team will be a certain way in a couple of seasons. But in modern football it seems like a massive gamble. The dynamics of any club can change very quickly and unexpectedly. If LFC miss out on UCL this season they should be very disappointed in the same way any of the other 7 potential contenders should be. Using the excuse of "we're rebuilding", is a poor one. " If Giroud goes down mid week, Arsenal will likley be screwed." Arsenal have a number of goal scorers now. Ramsey is putting them in the back of the net at will.
Andy
Guest
You were seriously overachieveing prior to this. I see Liverpool as being a season or two off actually being competitive for the title. They have the resources and Rogers has spent a lot but he has not spent wisely. He has paid an awful lot for some very ordinary players, just like Kenny before him. The side is getting there, but Liverpool fans need to stop working themselves up about the title every single season. Be happy you're playing much better than last year. And the year before. The right elements are coming together but there is a real arrogance amongst Liverpool fans this season and they're starting to be shown that it's come a little early. Still got a shot at Champions League, but so do about 8 clubs for the moment. Another season with some good signings will see Liverpool seriously become contenders. They have been heading in the right direction, but they are still competing against the entrenched forces of City, United, Chelsea and Arsenal. Diffiucult for any club to break that hegemony, but Tottenham and Liverpool have been trying and, at least Liverpool, are getting closer. Plus there's a long way to go yet. If Giroud goes down mid week, Arsenal will likley be screwed. Who knows what happens then as January is still some time away.
Daniel Bradley
Roar Rookie
As a Liverpool fan, losing these games is surely cossting us a chance of winning the Premier League. With Sturridge out for 2 months, we seem to have almost no chance of scoring goals and Suarez looked uninspiring this morning. Earlier in the season, we were able to beat teams like Hull even though Sturridge was available but I have to say, the defence really needs to be improved. Skrtel has been shocking this year; I think this year he's already scored about 3 own goals and the only defenders whom have been satisfactory are Johnson and Toure. But we need to make sure that without Sturrdige, we can have an attack that can score goals but whether if that means shifting Coutinho from a support forward to a striker could be an issue but he has shown that he can score goals. I'm not sure when Aspas returns even though his appearnces in the Premier League have not been as good as the appearances in the friendlies.
NORDBURG
Guest
Sadly the words"disappointing afternoon"always seem to precede or follow the words "Martin Skrtel".Between him and Agger they seem to cost Liverpool year in year out,very over-rated.Then soon as Rodgers drops one of them,they threaten to walk out on the club at the next transfer window -- Comment from The Roar's iPhone app.