At the start of the season, it was easy to think Liverpool might stroll to another Premier League title.

The defending champion won its first five league games, plus the two it played in other competitions.

It beat nearest challenger Arsenal in the third game of the season, then watched Mikel Arteta’s side draw with Manchester City and fall further behind.

Fast forward to Monday, and – after a 3-2 defeat to Brentford – Liverpool has now lost four straight games in the Premier League, just the fourth time in history that a defending champion has gone on such a poor run of form, per Opta.

It is as many defeats as Arne Slot’s team suffered in the whole of last season, when it won the league with four games to spare.

So, why is a team which dominated the Premier League last season enduring a losing streak? The answer lies in both its tactics and in the tragedy which befell the club over the summer.

An embarrassment of riches

Coming off the back of such a successful season, the Reds looked primed to challenge for titles again, adding some of the most exciting attacking talent from across Europe to its squad. The club broke its own transfer record twice to bring in Florian Wirtz and then Alexander Isak, either side of the addition of another forward, Hugo Ekitiké.

They replaced the likes of Luis Díaz, Darwin Núñez and Harvey