From champions to also-rans – A timeline of Liverpool’s season of struggle

Liverpool’s rapidly unravelling season took a further turn for the worse on Thursday evening when they slipped to a fifth successive home defeat for the first time in the club’s history.

The reigning Premier League champions will head into the weekend sitting in seventh place in the table, 22 points adrift of leaders Manchester City and with memories of last season triumphant charge to their first title for 30 years fading fast.

Here, the PA news agency takes a look at where it has all gone wrong for Jurgen Klopp’s men.

2020

October 17: Influential central defender Virgil van Dijk suffers knee ligament damage in a rash challenge by Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford in a 2-2 derby draw at Goodison Park and undergoes surgery which will rule him out for months. To compound their misery, the Reds are denied victory when a late Jordan Henderson strike is ruled out by VAR.

November 12: Fellow defender Joe Gomez goes under the knife after damaging a knee tendon while on England duty and begins a lengthy period on the sidelines.

December 13: Striker Diogo Jota is ruled out for up to eight weeks by damage to a knee suffered during a 1-1 Champions League draw with Midtjylland four days earlier.

December 27: Klopp’s side squander two points as they fail to make the most of a dominant performance against struggling West Brom and are punished at the end when Semi Ajayi cancels out Sadio Mane’s opener to snatch a surprise 1-1 draw for new manager Sam Allardyce at Anfield.

2021

January 21: Liverpool, whose wait for a Premier League goal passes seven hours, surrender their 68-game, near-four-year unbeaten home run when Ashley Barnes’ 83rd-minute penalty hands Burnley an unlikely 1-0 victory.

February 3: Brighton repeat Burnley’s Anfield heroics as Steven Alzate’s first Premier League goal seals a famous win.

February 7: Liverpool’s title defence is dealt a further blow when Manchester City, the side they had beaten to top spot by 18 points to end their barren run, condemn them to a 4-1 home defeat aided and abetted by two howlers from keeper Alisson Becker.

February 20: Richarlison’s third-minute strike and a late Gylfi Sigurdsson penalty clinch a first derby victory for Everton at Anfield in 22 years.

February 25: Tragedy strikes for Alisson when the 28-year-old’s father Jose Agostinho Becker dies in a swimming accident on the family’s ranch in Brazil. The following day, skipper Henderson is ruled out for several months after undergoing surgery on the groin injury he suffered during the derby defeat.

March 4: Mason Mount’s first-half goal condemns Liverpool to a fifth successive defeat at Anfield as Chelsea leave Merseyside with a 1-0 victory. Star striker Mohamed Salah is substituted with 28 minutes remaining and makes his displeasure clear.