Liverpool suffered their second Premier League defeat of the season, going down 1-0 to Aston Villa at Anfield on Saturday evening.
Gabriel Agbonlahor scored the only goal of the game in front of the Kop after just eight minutes, and the Reds spent the remainder of the match trying in vain to find an equaliser.
In fact, Liverpool managed just one shot on target over the entire 90 minutes, in what proved to be one of the most frustrating 90 minutes Anfield has seen in recent times.
The Reds started the match looking vulnerable, and it was from an early set piece that the only goal of the game was scored.
Dejan Lovren lost the run of Phillipe Senderos, and his header dropped into the path of Agbonlahor, who scuffed his finish past Simon Mignolet from close range.
The Reds huffed and puffed for the rest of the 45 minutes, enjoying plenty of possession but no real clear cut chances. In fact it could have got worse for the Reds, when Senderos headed over the bar from close range after losing his marker from another set piece.
The Swiss international was fortunate to stay on the pitch in fact, kicking Anfield debutant Mario Balotelli off the ball, although the incident was missed by the referee and his assistant.
Debutant Adam Lallana had the Reds best effort of the first half, firing narrowly wide from the edge of the box having been teed up by Mario Balotelli.
The Italian almost produced an equaliser with a speculative effort just two minutes before half time, with his deflected shot from a tight angle dipping just wide.
Into the second half, and much of the same pattern followed. Raheem Sterling was introduced for Adam Lallana on 60 minutes, having been rested by Brendan Rodgers following his involvement in two international fixtures last week.
He injected a bit of pace and energy into the Reds attack, but Villa goalkeeper Brad Guzan’s activity went as far as catching and punching crosses.
The Reds enjoyed plenty of possession, but created nothing clear cut until five minutes from time, when Phillipe Coutinho drifted inside and curled his shot against the post.
Raheem Sterling then saw his follow up shot accidentally blocked by Jordan Henderson, although replays suggested the 19-year-old’s effort was heading wide.
Rickie Lambert and Fabio Borini were thrown on as the Reds searched in vain for an equaliser, however neither were able to make any sort of impact, as Liverpool ran out of ideas.
Player ratings: Mignolet 6, Manquillo 5, Lovren 5, Sakho 5, Moreno 6, Gerrard 6, Henderson 6, Markovic 5 (Borini 3), Coutinho 5, Lallana 6, (Sterling 6), Balotelli 6 (Lambert 5)
