For Liverpool it was the definition of a defensive unraveling, the speed and chaos of it was breathtaking. They seemed poised for a much-needed victory after Mohamed Salah’s beautiful finish from Roberto Firmino’s even finer assist.
However, the champions have long since lost their certainty and this defeat, a fifth in 10 Premier League games, raised many more uncomfortable questions – not least whether they will be able to save a Champions League finish of a disastrous title defense.
There was VAR drama about Leicester’s equalizing goal, which James Maddison claimed, but the decisive moment came shortly after, in the 81st minute, and for the second game in a row it was an almost comical mistake by Alisson.
Twice in last Sunday’s 4-1 home loss against Manchester City, the goalkeeper made a mistake with away defenses that led to goals, but this mistake felt even worse as it involved a collision with a teammate – new signing Ozan Kabak, who made a debut made to forget.
Youri Tielemans had aimed a high ball to Harvey Barnes and with Kabak backwards and Alisson out of his area, the perfect storm rushed. Kabak stretched out his leg to challenge as Alisson made his connection. But instead of playing away, he pulled the ball square and straight to Jamie Vardy, who collected it and threw it into the empty net.
What was going on? On December 19, Liverpool had another shot at retaining their title. That was the day when they passed Crystal Palace seven points and were five points clear at the top of the table. Little has gone well for them since then.
Their afternoon continued to swing in the wrong direction when they got the third. Moments earlier, Jürgen Klopp had become enraged with someone behind him in the stands and now he saw Salah lose possession and Wilfried Ndidi Barnes free from Kabak, who clearly had no legs to come back. Barnes sent confidently past Alisson and Leicester felt their hopes rise in the top four.
There was only introspection and gloom for Liverpool. They had enjoyed the best of the first half and much of the second in terms of possession and territory, but the anxiety issues lurking in the back had been announced.
Klopp played his 13th central defensive partnership of an injury-ravaged season with Kabak alongside Jordan Henderson, but there were two moments before the break when the new defender looked vulnerable.
Vardy turned around him after 12 minutes to lob him too high, while Kabak also slid right before half time as Leicester jumped forward. Maddison played the last pass, a clean move, and Vardy was clean through. His shot hit the crossbar.
It wasn’t just Kabak who struggled with Vardy. The center forward’s clearest opportunity of the first half came when he found space behind Henderson to meet Barnes’ cross from the left, but his header was weak.
Liverpool were smart from the start and Salah’s move caused trouble for Ricardo Pereira. He had two good chances in the first quarter, plus other flickers, but the end product was bad. Henderson took him away in the 10th minute with a nice ball over the top and although Pereira came back to challenge it was still a surprise to see Salah miskick.
Salah’s other big moment followed a passing ball from Trent Alexander-Arnold, but instead of firing, he went for a cross that never looked like it reached Sadio Mane ahead of Daniel Amartey.
Alexander-Arnold played well for on-watch England manager Gareth Southgate, and he almost gave Liverpool the lead in the 57th minute, only for his deflected free kick to come back off the crossbar.
Liverpool’s goal was a beauty, Firmino dragged the ball back with one foot before, in the same fluid motion, knocking off Salah with the other. Salah had the right angle this time and steered into the far corner.
The game turned sharply after Barnes drove between Thiago Alcântara and Alexander-Arnold on the left side of the area, felt contact from the former and went to the ground. A penalty was only awarded for VAR to call it back, given that the foul took place outside the penalty area.
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Maddison hit the free kick low through a group of bodies and into the far corner, but again VAR was not happy and didn’t allow it to be offside against Amartey, who had tried to get the ball to the center and not played. Or so it seemed. After further assessment, Amartey was deemed to have been us and Maddison’s goal stood.
Alisson would make a fine double save at 2-1 to deny Barnes and Vardy, but by then the damage was already done. It would get worse. In these most devious seasons, Liverpool are on their knees.