Liverpool are in a slump and have now notched up four losses in a row.

The men from Anfield have lost to Crystal Palace, Galatasaray, Chelsea and now Manchester United today (October 19).

It’s beginning to look desperate for Liverpool. The last time it lost four in a row was in November 2014.

Today, Manchester United took the game to Liverpool and looked undaunted. The Red Devils showed plenty of grit, and they don’t look as impotent up front as they did last season, where they relied totally on Bruno Fernandes.

Amad Diallo’s exquisite pass found Bryan Mbeumo, who opened the scoring for Manchester United in just 62 seconds.

This Liverpool team is just not gelling, and Arne Slot will have to find answers quickly. His top striker, Mohamed Salah, is a shadow of himself and is failing to click with Hugo Ekitike. Salah looks woefully off the pace, but it is early days into the season. He still has time to come good.

Alexander Isak said he wanted out of Newcastle and that he could be an asset to Liverpool. He is yet to prove that. From what he has shown so far, he is no Sadio Mane.

Liverpool looked imperious last season. There was no reason for Slot to go out and fundamentally change the team with so many acquisitions. Why change a winning formula?

Milos Kerkez, on the left side of Liverpool’s defence, doesn’t seem to have great chemistry with Van Dijk. It is clear that Liverpool misses Trent Alexander-Arnold with his surgical passes and his ability to come from deep and change games.

Cody Gakpo hit the post twice before equalising in the 78th minute. It seemed that Liverpool was going to settle for one point after denying Manchester United a famous victory on the red side of Merseyside. 

In the 84th minute, the yeoman defender Harry Maguire, who is a good header, rose up and found the back of the net. How Liverpool misses the Brazilian goalkeeper Alisson Becker. Manchester United fans were ecstatic. Sir Alex Ferguson clapped with a broad grin of satisfaction across his face. It must have brought back memories of the old days, when “ Fergie Time” saw the Red Devils snatch victory when it looked unlikely.

In the dying minutes of the game, Cody Gakpo could have made it 2-2 but missed a sitter of a header and placed it wide of an open goal. It summed up Liverpool’s season thus far.

Two weeks ago, Ruben Amorim looked on his way out. Many called for him to go, but the Manchester United bosses kept faith with him. Today, he went some way in repaying that faith. He has now won back-to-back EPL games, and Manchester United are up to ninth position in the table, just two points off Liverpool, who have dropped to fourth with 15 points.

Amorim has stuck to his guns and has the confidence of the team. Manchester United are not yet back, but today they looked like the team are on their way. This victory will be an enormous boost to their confidence.

For Arne Slot, it is back to the drawing board. Will he doubt his abilities? Can he turn this around? Other teams will sense Liverpool’s vulnerabilities, and Anfield will no longer seem an impregnable fortress.

After the game, Harry Maguire said: “ They’ve had the better of us over the last few years, and it’s not been good enough, and we’ve not given our fans anywhere near enough days like today.

“It’s the old cliche, it’s only three points, but it’s definitely not; it means a lot more than that to the boys, to the club, to the fans.

“I’ve been here seven years now, and to come to this ground every year and not get three points has been tough, so it’s for the fans, and I hope they have a good night tonight.”

Ruben Amorim played this memorable win down. He didn’t get carried away or ebullient about it. He mused, “It’s one more game. We know the importance of the game, but if we start feeling that one game is more important than the other, that is the biggest mistake we can make.”

Manchester United take on Brighton next week.