By David Lawson-Cooke
Liverpool suffered one their worst ever Premier League defeats last night. The whole of the top flight was in disbelief as the champions were thrashed by Aston Villa by seven goals to two.
Liverpool’s performance was possibly the worst in the Jurgen Klopp era, as Liverpool were unable to contain a lively Aston Villa.
A first half hattrick from summer signing Ollie Watkins and a brace from captain Jack Grealish contributed to Liverpool’s worst defeat in a long time. The shock result at Villa Park also was the first time Liverpool had conceded seven goals in their Premier League history.
So, after a night to forget for the Reds, we looked back to Liverpool’s biggest Premier League defeats.
1992-93 season – Coventry City 5-1 Liverpool
Liverpool’s performance in the inaugural Premier League season was a forgettable one. Liverpool ended the season in 6th position and were left without any European football the following year. The lowest point of this bland season for Liverpool was a Christmas visit to Highfield Road. Liverpool left Coventry feeling anything but festive as they suffered their biggest defeat for 16 years.
Braces for Brian Borrows and Mick Quinn and a goal for Kevin Gallacher handed Liverpool one of their worst results ever.
2001-02 season – Chelsea 4-0 Liverpool
The 2001-02 season was positive for Liverpool as they finished in 2nd place to a strong Arsenal team. Despite picking up 80 points that season Liverpool had one very bad day away at Stamford Bridge.
The convincing defeat meant that Liverpool had still not won a Premier League match at Stamford Bridge. Graeme Le Saux and Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink scored early in the first half for Chelsea. Gary McAllister added to the misery by missing a penalty early on. Late goals from Dalla Bona and Gudjohnsen wrapped up a long afternoon in the capital.
2002-03 season – Manchester United 4-0 Liverpool
After finishing runners up in the previous season, Liverpool slumped to a 6th placed finish in the 2002-03 campaign. However, Liverpool did win the League Cup when they defeated eventual Premier League champions Manchester United 2-0 in the final.
Two months later, when the sides met in the league United got revenge in ruthless fashion. United hammered Liverpool in what was a hard result to take for Liverpool fans. Sami Hyypia was sent off early in the game after giving away a penalty within five minutes. Ruud Van Nistelrooy helped himself to two goals from the spot. Ryan Giggs and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer also got on the score sheet in a horrible day in Manchester.
2006-07 season – Everton 3-0 Liverpool
A day the blue half of Liverpool remember very well. Despite Everton’s terrible record against Liverpool in the Premier League, this game turned out to be a good one for the blues. Everton showed a ruthless edge in front of goal and handed Liverpool one of their worst Premier League defeats.
Tim Cahill opened the scoring and Andy Johnson grabbed the other two on a derby day to forget for Liverpool.
2011-12 season – Tottenham Hotspur 4-0 Liverpool
Another league campaign reds may wish to forget following a disappointing 8th place finish. Liverpool did mange to win the League cup and reach the FA cup final under Kenny Dalglish. However, in the league it was their joint-lowest Premier League finish since finishing eighth in 1994.
The two sides met early on in the season and a good Tottenham team handed Liverpool a 4-0 loss. Emmanuel Adebayor scored twice on his home debut, with Luka Modric and Jermain Defoe adding to the score line. Liverpool also ended the game with nine men after both Charlie Adam and Martin Škrtel saw red.
2014-15 season – Stoke City 6-1 Liverpool
A game that still leaves a bitter taste for all Liverpool fans. It was the clubs worst defeat in Premier League history and arguably still is. The factor that makes this one so bad is that it was Steven Gerrard’s final game for the club. A terrible season overall especially after coming so close the season before.
A horrible afternoon in Stoke on Trent where Liverpool found themselves 5-0 down at half time. Steven Gerrard got a goodbye goal after a better second half, but overall it was a sad finale to Gerrard’s Liverpool career.
2017-18 season – Manchester City 5-0 Liverpool
Overall a great season domestically from Liverpool as Jurgen Klopp led them to 4th place. Liverpool also got all the way to the Champions League Final in a great season. Liverpool showed signs of improvement during Klopp’s first full season but they did suffer a tough afternoon against Man City.
The game was tight early on with both teams playing good football. Unfortunately for Liverpool the game changed completely following the sending off of Sadio Mane. After this a top Man City took control of 10 men of Liverpool and dealt them a heavy defeat.
Liverpool would get revenge however as they were one of only two teams to defeat Pep Guardiola’s team that season.
2019-20 season – Watford 3-0 Liverpool
After only dropping two points all season people started to believe that Liverpool could join Arsenal as invincibles. Step forward Watford.
After being faultless all-season Liverpool were shell-shocked as an inspired Ismaila Sarr tore the eventual champions apart. Liverpool continued to try and fight back but Troy Deeney put the game beyond doubt by adding a third.
A crazy game in a season where Liverpool ended up as champions and Watford even with such a top performance against Liverpool would be relegated to the Championship.
Liverpool worst Premier League defeat?
In the list there have been some truly appalling results for Liverpool. Last nights result could be in contention for Liverpool’s worst ever Premier League loss. However, this game would be forgotten if Liverpool can manage to defend their title this season.
Which of these defeats do you think is Liverpool’s worst ever Premier League defeat? Let us know @merseysportlive on Twitter.
