Liverpool manager Arne Slot admitted that his team has lost its intimidation factor following a poor spell of form, as Sunderland held them to a 1-1 draw at Anfield on Wednesday.
The Premier League title holders have now gone three home matches without a victory and relied on a Nordi Mukiele own goal to secure a draw against the Black Cats.
Sunderland appeared set to claim their first Anfield triumph since 1983 after Chemsdine Talbi put them ahead with a deflected shot.
Even after Mukiele redirected Florian Wirtz’s attempt into his own net for Liverpool’s leveller, Wilson Isidor missed a golden opportunity to seal the win for Sunderland, with Federico Chiesa clearing his stoppage-time shot off the line.
After beginning the campaign with five straight league wins, Liverpool have managed just two victories in their last nine matches.
“Teams that play us now think they can get a result,” said Slot. “Not only think because that has been shown this season.
“Even the games we have won, we have fuelled the confidence for other teams that something is possible because the wins we had weren’t easy ones as well.”
Any optimism that Sunday’s 2-0 win over West Ham signalled a turnaround quickly faded for Slot.
Mohamed Salah started on the bench for a second straight match, while Wirtz and Alexander Isak again struggled to justify their fees of more than £100 million.
Salah came on at the start of the second half but also found it difficult to influence the game against Sunderland’s disciplined back line.
“I knew before the game Sunderland is a hard team to score against, hard team to create chances against,” added Slot.
“A game where we didn’t concede a lot or create a lot and were really unlucky with the goal we conceded. It was a deflection and could have gone anywhere but in the period we are in, it went in.”