Liverpool 1-4 PSV Eindhoven
Anfield witnessed one of its bleakest European nights in recent memory as Liverpool collapsed to a crushing 4-1 defeat by PSV Eindhoven, plunging Arne Slot’s side deeper into crisis and leaving the famous old stadium ringing with boos.
The warning signs arrived inside six minutes. Virgil van Dijk, usually a bastion of calm, inexplicably handled a corner and Ivan Perisic dispatched the penalty. Dominik Szoboszlai briefly restored parity with a tap-in after Cody Gakpo’s effort was parried, marking Liverpool’s 500th goal in the competition. Yet that flicker of hope proved cruelly deceptive.
From the restart, Liverpool’s fragility was exposed again and again. Mauro Junior waltzed unchecked down the left to set up Guus Til for a simple finish ten minutes into the second half.
Worse followed when Ibrahima Konate was caught flat-footed, allowing Ricardo Pepi to strike the post before Couhaib Driouech pounced on the rebound. In stoppage time Driouech added a fourth, drilling past a stranded Alisson from Sergino Dest’s cutback.
Three straight defeats, three goals conceded in each, and now a home thrashing by a PSV side they had dismissed comfortably in last season’s dead rubber. Liverpool sit 12th in the new league phase table, their Premier League cushion eroded and confidence shredded.
Slot, facing the first real storm of his tenure, admitted afterwards: “We are making too many individual mistakes at the moment and we are being punished every single time.” Supporters streamed out long before the end, the Kop’s famous roar replaced by stunned silence and angry jeers.
For a club that prides itself on European pedigree, this was a sobering reality check. With tricky away trips looming and injuries mounting, the Dutch coach has little time to arrest a slide that threatens to turn a promising season into a full-blown meltdown.
