Liverpool’s Premier League title defence already appears doomed – however historical past exhibits that’s no shock

Liverpool’s try and retain the title for the primary time since 1984 already appears doomed after a shaky begin to the season.

Aside from Pep Guardiola’s Manchester Metropolis and their latest four-peat, defending the Premier League has proved past each champion since Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United in 2008/09.

Opta’s supercomputer charges Liverpool’s probabilities of successful the league at 7.1 per cent after Arne Slot’s aspect misplaced 5 of their opening 11 league encounters to fall eight factors behind Arsenal on the prime of the desk.

Head coach Slot has struggled to combine the £450m value of latest expertise delivered to Anfield final summer season, whereas the gamers who have been so instrumental to final season’s title win have largely didn’t match these heights thus far this marketing campaign, maybe struggling to search out the motivation to go once more.

In consequence, the champions have conceded two or extra objectives in seven video games already this season, the second-worst report within the prime flight, and don’t look able to happening the type of lengthy unbeaten run wanted to get again into the title race.

Actually, even qualifying for the Champions League through a top-four end appears a stretch, with the Reds presently languishing down in eighth place within the desk – an unthinkable state of affairs heading into the season, however possibly not so shocking given latest historical past.

2013-14: Moyes in a multitude as Previous Trafford turns into Theatre of Screams

Maybe the simplest collapse to clarify as David Moyes took on what has since proved to be the unimaginable job of changing serial winner Alex Ferguson as Manchester United supervisor.

The previous Everton boss was sacked by the Pink Devils in April 2014 with the 20-times champions finally ending up seventh within the desk, their first end exterior the highest 4 in Premier League historical past and their worst end total since 1989.

In the end, regardless of having been handed a six-year deal at Previous Trafford after being hand-picked by Fergie for the position, the job proved too large for Moyes.

2015-16: Mourinho feels the Blues after ‘unprecedented capitulation’

Chelsea had romped to the title the marketing campaign earlier than as Jose Mourinho’s “little horse” racked up 87 factors whereas shedding simply three video games all season, however issues have been very totally different for his or her title defence because the champions spectacularly combusted.

There have been early warning indicators all was not proper with the Blues when Crystal Palace gained 2-1 at Stamford Bridge in August 2015, solely the second time the Portuguese had misplaced a top-flight match at residence in control of the west Londoners.

Mourinho then bought right into a dispute with membership physician Eva Carneiro, earlier than receiving a suspended stadium ban and £50,000 nice for claiming referees have been “afraid” to award his staff penalties in a 3-1 residence loss to Southampton in October.

And the defeats continued to come back, a lot in order that when Chelsea misplaced 2-1 at eventual champions Leicester Metropolis in December, Mourinho had overseen 9 losses within the membership’s first 16 league video games to go away them only a level away from the relegation zone.

The ‘Particular One’, who had solely signed a brand new contract in August, acquired his marching orders, with Alan Shearer saying: “I’ve never known a capitulation like it from a football club.

“I’ve by no means identified gamers to carry out like they did final season after which be so dangerous now. It is unprecedented.”

2016-17: Foxes’ worst-ever title defence

Leicester had surprised the soccer world by successful the 2015-16 Premier League, however maybe to nobody’s nice shock, that was a one-off as Claudio Ranieri’s staff didn’t hit these heights once more the next marketing campaign.

The writing was very a lot on the wall when the Foxes misplaced their opening recreation at relegation favourites Hull Metropolis, the primary time this had ever occurred to a reigning Premier League champion.

Leicester’s 2-1 defeat to backside membership Sunderland in December left them with simply 13 factors from 14 video games, the worst return for any defending champion in Premier League historical past, with Ranieri axed two months later with the Foxes solely a degree above the drop zone.

Craig Shakespeare changed the Italian, guiding the membership to twelfth within the desk, the bottom end by a Premier League champion, as Leicester understandably struggled to duplicate their miraculous achievements from 12 months earlier.

2017-18: Deja vu yet again for Chelsea

With similarities from two years earlier, Chelsea adopted a dominant championship win with a underwhelming title defence that noticed the architect behind the Premier League triumph axed the subsequent season.

Antonio Conte’s aspect had amassed a whopping 90 factors, together with a record-breaking 30 wins, en path to the 2016-17 title, with the Italian rewarded with a brand new deal that summer season.

Nonetheless, Conte’s frustration then grew to become evident when Chelsea didn’t land the signings he wished, with the Blues boss claiming “the club decides every single player who comes here”. And he was sacked for failing to make the Champions League after a fifth-placed end that noticed them find yourself 23 factors worse off, together with 10 defeats, than 12 months earlier.

2020-21: Accidents & Covid wreck Reds’ hopes

There have been many causes for Liverpool’s underwhelming 2020-21 title defence, a season that noticed the vast majority of video games performed behind closed doorways because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The primary one was a defensive damage disaster that noticed the Reds’ three senior centre-backs, together with the influential Virgil van Vijk, dominated out for the season, with the champions happening to lose an unprecedented six straight league video games at Anfield – having not been crushed there within the earlier 68 contests.

That shedding run at residence – not helped by having no followers in attendance at Anfield – had left Liverpool approach down in eighth in March 2021, earlier than a robust finish to the season noticed them end third, a mammoth 27 factors behind champions Manchester Metropolis.

Even Pep’s Man Metropolis aren’t immune

The one exception throughout the previous decade are, in fact, Guardiola’s relentless Manchester Metropolis aspect, who gained the league six occasions in seven years between 2018 and 2024, together with a record-breaking 4 seasons in a row [2021-24].

Nonetheless, intriguingly, on the 2 events Metropolis did fail to defend their title on this interval – 2019-20 & 2024-25 – their kind additionally nosedived, with Guardiola’s staff dropping extra factors [19] by the top of December 2019 than that they had of their total earlier two campaigns after accidents to key males Aymeric Laporte and Leroy Sane.

In the meantime, 5 years later the identical occurred once more because the lack of Rodri to a season-ending knee damage precipitated a shocking downward spiral that noticed Metropolis win as soon as in eight league matches, six of which have been defeats, together with a primary on the Etihad for 52 video games and three years.

And amazingly, Metropolis misplaced 18 occasions throughout these two failed title defences, in comparison with simply 23 defeats throughout their six championship-winning campaigns mixed, as a mixture of accidents to key stars and psychological fatigue set in.

Leeds’ record-breaking collapse & Rovers ruined

The inaugural Premier League marketing campaign noticed champions Leeds United finish the marketing campaign down in seventeenth, solely two factors above the relegation zone, after a disastrous title defence through which Howard Wilkinson’s aspect didn’t win on the highway all season.

In the meantime, Blackburn Rovers adopted up their memorable 1994-95 title triumph with a limp exhibiting the next marketing campaign after Kenny Dalglish had moved upstairs to change into director of soccer, with Ray Halford overseeing a aspect that misplaced 13 occasions whereas ending down in seventh.

‘Inside Liverpool’ is on at 7pm on Thursday on Sky Sports activities Premier League