It was a moment that captured the mood inside Anfield on a dreadful, forgettable afternoon.
When, with five minutes remaining, Joe Gomez attempted a risky backpass that threatened to put Alisson Becker in trouble, Jurgen Klopp threw has hands on top of his head in a mixture of anguish and disbelief.
The Liverpool boss, standing on the touchline, remained in the pose for a good few seconds until his team eventually scrambled the ball away.
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And for much of this awful game, the home supporters were given reason to feel likewise as the Reds fumbled around in search of any sort of threat or consistency against a Chelsea team who were scarcely any better.
Anfield began to grumble as Liverpool regularly coughed up possession, looked hesitant in their pressing and, for the most part, struggled to create any sort of nuisance up front. There was endeavour, yes. But the quality was almost non-existent.
This possessed the lack of excitement and genuine incident that recalled the mindless Champions League groups games of the mid-2000s rather than the two exhilarating cup finals from last season. This was instead every inch a scrap between teams underperforming lying ninth and 10th in the Premier League table going into the match.
It wasn’t as exciting as the goalless scoreline suggests, the home fans taking little warmth from a bitingly-cold lunchtime kick-off.
Klopp had kept faith in several starters from the FA Cup third round replay win against Wolverhampton Wanderers in midweek. This time, though, he wasn’t particularly rewarded, teenage midfielder Stefan Bajcetic – making his first Premier League start – finding it tough going as the defensive shield, while Molineux matchwinner Harvey Elliott appeared lost on the left flank.
Positives? Well, this was a second successive clean sheet and a first in the Premier League for more than three months. And at least Liverpool avoided losing their first three league games of a calendar year since 1953.
That, though, was not exactly much to boast about given how dreary the opposition were. Teams can’t play well every game. But this type of performance is becoming far too commonplace for Liverpool since the season restart. Not the way for Klopp to celebrate his landmark 1,000th game as a manager, that's for sure.
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