The sight of the downcast and dejected Mohamed Salah trudging off as Liverpool desperately chased an equaliser against Manchester United was an ominous symbol of their current struggles. If there was one player in recent Anfield history who would be backed to conjure up a match-saving moment of magic it is 'The Egyptian King', the spearhead of all Liverpool's recent successes. And yet there was Salah, replaced by Jeremie Frimpong moments after Harry Maguire had headed what proved to be Manchester United's 84th-minute winner in a 2-1 triumph, their first at Anfield for more than a decade. It inflicted Liverpool's fourth successive loss, their worst sequence of results since 2014 under Brendan Rodgers, as what was portrayed as a blip now becomes something deeper when placed alongside the previous sky-high standards set under head coach Arne Slot in his triumphant first title-winning season.

"If you lose four times in a row, you need to be concerned," Slot told Match of the Day. "We know how it works in football. If we keep bringing in these performances we will have a fair chance of winning more football games. Losing four times in a row definitely does something with the team."

If they lose for the fifth time in a row to Eintracht Frankfurt in the Champions League on Wednesday, it would be the first time Liverpool have suffered this fate since September 1953. Liverpool even felt the frustrations of their own supporters on occasions, when build-up was ponderous and they looked short of ideas to penetrate United's unyielding defence. There were moments of ill-luck against United, Cody Gakpo striking the woodwork three times before equalising in the 78th minute. Salah slashed unconvincingly at a golden opportunity, underlining the 33-year-old's current lack of form and confidence, extending his run without scoring a non-penalty goal to seven games.

Doubting world-class players is always a dangerous occupation, but Salah has looked out of sorts this season, left out of the Champions League defeat by Galatasaray in Istanbul, then being substituted here with Liverpool trying to rescue a point. Liverpool are currently a shadow of the efficient machine that strolled the Premier League last season, having looked vulnerable since day one this season in a Community Shield defeat by Crystal Palace at Wembley. They are riddled with flaws, remarkable given the fact Slot was handed almost £450m to strengthen the newly-crowned champions. And amid all the understanding that even stellar names signed in record-breaking deals such as £116m for Florian Wirtz and £125m for Alexander Isak require a settling-in period, the bottom line is that neither have produced anything near enough.

Isak was anonymous again, having been chosen ahead of the much livelier Hugo Ekitike, while Wirtz once again had to be content with coming off the bench. Their proven quality will make Liverpool optimistic their massive outlay will be rewarded, but their contribution so far, at a combined cost of £241m, has not stretched far beyond non-existent. "Arne Slot has a couple of decisions to make," former Liverpool defender Stephen Warnock told 5 Live. "Szobozslai looks like the better right-back and suits going into midfield from that position, but does he like being there? No, but for the good of the team it would work better. Then Frimpong comes on down the right and has more of an influence in 10 minutes or so than Salah in most of the game. He put two exceptional balls into the box, and Gakpo should have scored from one of them. Ekitike did more when he came on up top than Isak did too."

For a team that carried an air of calm laced with deadly threat last season, Liverpool now give off an air of chaos and a lack of organisation, especially in their defensive work. Milos Kerkez struggled badly again, almost scoring an unwitting own goal with a rebound off his face in the second half, which would have summed up Liverpool's defending. The debate will continue about whether referee Michael Oliver should have stopped play when Liverpool's Alexis Mac Allister lay prone nursing a head injury, inflicted accidentally by captain Virgil van Dijk's elbow. Instead, the game continued, Bryam Mbeumo taking advantage of Van Dijk reacting slowly to recover his position, finishing smartly past Liverpool's deputy keeper Giorgi Mamardashvili.

The lack of organisation is reflected in the statistic that Liverpool have conceded five goals resulting from set pieces in eight Premier League games this season. They did not concede any goals in that manner in the same number of matches at the start of last season. Liverpool are open to counter-attacks at pace, while balls played in behind have presented problems all season. It all adds up to the position Liverpool find themselves in, dropping to fourth in the table, four points behind leaders Arsenal.

Liverpool have too much quality to stay in the slump for long, but Slot has problems to solve, needing to get those misfiring superstars up and running while curing the problems that have been exposed this season. "It's an interesting time now, we have to stick together," captain Van Dijk said after the game. "We need to stay humble and stay working. When things get tough, it is important we keep the mentality of being there for each other. It is a long season."