Mohamed Salah has endured a particularly difficult season. Peter Byrne/PA Wire

At the start of the season, it was easy to think Liverpool might stroll to another Premier League title .

The defending champion won its first five league games, plus the two it played in other competitions.

It beat nearest challenger Arsenal in the third game of the season, then watched Mikel Arteta’s side draw with Manchester City and fall further behind.

Fast forward to Monday, and – after a 3-2 defeat to Brentford – Liverpool has now lost four straight games in the Premier League, just the fourth time in history that a defending champion has gone on such a poor run of form, per Opta .

It is as many defeats as Arne Slot’s team suffered in the whole of last season, when it won the league with four

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