Liverpool enduring worst start to a year in quarter of a century

Liverpool ended 2016 in positive fashion, but have hit a 24-year low at the start of the new calendar year.

The Reds swept into 2017 on the back of four successive victories – a run which saw them concede only once.

Klopp: Liverpool paying for bad calls

Manchester City were edged out at the end of that run, with a New Year’s Eve triumph at Anfield helping to raise morale around Anfield.

That positivty has been slowly eroded inside four short weeks, with Liverpool enduring their worst start to a year since 1993 - when they won only one of their opening nine games.

Jurgen Klopp’s side have emerged victorious in just one of their seven fixtures so far, and that was a FA Cup third round replay against League Two side Plymouth Argyle.

While the Reds have kept their hopes alive in the FA Cup, they have fallen off the pace in the Premier League title race and slipped out of the EFL Cup.

Liverpool have collected just two points from the nine on offer in the English top-flight, with a 3-2 reversal against Swansea City at the weekend leaving them 10 points adrift of leaders Chelsea.

Carragher blasts Sturridge after cup exit

They had been hoping to bounce back by booking a trip to Wembley on Wednesday evening, but saw Southampton leave Merseyside with a 1-0 win and a 2-0 aggregate success in their League Cup semi-final clash.

Knockout football continues for the Reds on Saturday with a FA Cup date with Wolves, before attention turns to a crucial meeting with Chelsea in the Premier League at Stamford Bridge on January 31.