Liverpool suffered a third consecutive defeat when Estevao’s injury-time winner gave Chelsea a 2-1 home win and placed Premier League champions under pressure. Liverpool’s attack and midfield were slammed by Gary Neville, and he said their recent slide had guaranteed the title race was wide open, with Arsenal now at the top.
Gary Neville’s Assessment
After Moises Caicedo’s opener, Liverpool equalised through Cody Gakpo, but Estevao’s stoppage-time strike sealed Chelsea’s win. On The Gary Neville Podcast, Neville said: “In the last 15–20 minutes, their creative players, midfielders, and forwards were absolutely useless.”
He singled out Gakpo, Mohamed Salah, and Florian Wirtz for poor decisions and lack of impact: “Gakpo, Salah, the wastage. Wirtz, not knowing how to get into the game in the last 15 minutes when it was there for the taking, Liverpool were poor today. That’s the most disappointing last 15 minutes I’ve seen from Liverpool in a long time.”
Neville also stressed that full-backs and Wirtz must step up: “Liverpool have world-class players and a great manager. The full-backs must improve, and Wirtz has to connect better with Isak and the forwards.”
Defensive Concerns
Neville criticised Liverpool’s backline, especially Milos Kerkez: “Kerkez looks like a youth team player… naive, losing 50-50s, struggling despite playing alongside Virgil van Dijk. Frimpong looks like he should be a right winger. Conor Bradley isn’t doing it, and Andy Robertson is battling but not quite at the level he was a few years ago. Liverpool’s problems at the moment are as much to do with full-backs as anywhere.”
Author’s Opinion
Liverpool’s most recent loss demonstrates that talent alone is not enough without harmony. There is still individual brilliance, but the shared understanding is missing at crucial junctures. The front must combine creativity and execution, and full-backs must promise to defend but also push forward. Should Slot fix these problems during the international break, then Liverpool will prove a stern test Or else Arsenal and co could cash in.
