Even though it's only October, Liverpool's chances of winning the English Premier League title after Sunday's 3-2 loss to Arsenal appear to be all but dead even before Halloween. After nine games, the Londoners have risen a point above Manchester City at the top of the league thanks to a brace from Bukayo Saka and an early goal from Gabriel Martinelli.
For Liverpool, this was yet another forgettable afternoon for a team that struggled in every aspect last season. With just two victories through eight games, the Reds are 10th in the league, 14 points behind the Gunners. The squad is performing much below the bar established in recent campaigns and is off to its worst start in Klopp's seven-year tenure.
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Should the Merseysiders lose to Pep Guardiola's team, they will play Manchester City in the league the following week, and the deficit might grow even further by the following Sunday.
“This game (against Arsenal) is gone now, we cannot just accept a situation and say it’s just not happening or whatever, we’re not kids,” he told Sky Sports after the match. “We did a lot of good things, scored two really nice goals and played really good stuff against the team in form in the league because we are probably the team not in the form in the league.”
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Martinelli connected with a flawless pass from skipper Martin Odegaard to give the Gunners the lead after 58 seconds, giving Liverpool the worst possible start. The signing of Darwin Nunez restored parity in the 34th minute, but Saka restored the home team's lead with a goal just before halftime following a spectacular Arsenal counterattack.