"Liverpool's implosion is real," said Gary Neville, after Arne Slot's defending champions blew a 2-0 and then 3-2 advantage at Leeds to draw 3-3 on Saturday Night Football.
It's another damaging result for the Premier League title holders, who have won just four of their last 15 games across all competitions. They sit eighth in the table, having missed the chance to go fifth, with a 10-point gap to leaders Arsenal.
"For Liverpool, despair," said Neville at the final whistle at Elland Road. "Inconsistent. You can't trust them. You're always thinking something's going to go wrong and they make mistake after mistake after mistake."
After Hugo Ekitike's quickfire double at the start of the second half, Liverpool let Leeds back into the game. Ibrahima Konate gave away a penalty for Dominic Calvert-Lewin to make it 2-1 before Anton Stach fired in an equaliser moments later. Dominik Szoboszlai put Liverpool back in front but Ao Tanaka scored another Leeds equaliser from an injury-time corner.
"Liverpool's implosion is real," said Neville. "This is a game that was comfortable for them at 2-0.
"It could happen. You thought it might happen. Arne Slot cannot believe it.
"It's a mystery that continues. His team just implodes. Liverpool... you just can't trust them."
Reflecting on Liverpool's problems on The Gary Neville Podcast, Neville gave his backing to Liverpool boss Arne Slot - but warned it could take some time to get the team back on track, given the number of problems that have surfaced.
"It's a bad one again and they'll be dejected going back to Liverpool on that coach. They'll be in a very dark place, I don't think they'll be in a good place at all.
"I can't entertain the idea of Arne Slot and talking about his job, that's just not for me. He's won a title four months ago.
"There's definitely a problem. There's definitely an issue of settling this new team, this group of players who've come together into the squad and what's happening with [Mohamed] Salah, what's happening with [Alexander] Isak, what's happening with the defenders and what's happening with the full backs... There are lots of questions.
"You can tell he's still trying to answer them and he's probably not going to answer them for a while yet. It may even need a transfer window to refine things again. He had a very very steady ship when he first came in. Then got this introduction into the dressing room of five or six players and tried to integrate them into a team with real excitement and massive transfer fees.
"We were all saying Liverpool were unbelievable favourites for the league - I said Arsenal but I could see why everyone was.
"It's gone wrong, it's gone badly wrong but it isn't a time to throw the baby out with the bath water.
"This is a time for them to knuckle down, work hard think about what they need to do to refine that squad a little bit more, think about what they're doing in January, start to plan for next season with Arne Slot and what that looks like because they've got a fantastic manager in my opinion and think about now how they rebuild that Liverpool defence, how they get that Liverpool midfield right and most importantly how is he going to get the best out [Florian] Wirtz and Isak."
Meanwhile, Leeds have backed up their midweek win over Chelsea by earning another valuable point in their fight against relegation. They are now three points above the drop zone - and earned Neville's praise for their performances in a run of games which also saw them go close to landing a result at Man City.
"Man City away. Chelsea at home. Liverpool at home. The week that was probably going to be cementing their place in the Championship next season. It's been the week of hope," said Neville. "Four points. And they nearly got a point at Man City. They've been fantastic.
"Fair dos to [Leeds boss Daniel Farke]. I thought when he was changing his team it was a case of just resting them for the next game but they played that 3-5-2, they played a bit more direct, then he's flipped his system into a 4-2-3-1 that has actually played through Liverpool at times."
Liverpool boss Arne Slot to SportNews:
"It's not the first time we've dropped points. It's not the first time we have conceded a goal in the last minute. It's not the first time we have conceded a set-piece. I think everyone can understand what the mood was in the dressing room.
"I don't think we conceded any chance until we were 2-0 up. The penalty wasn't a chance but we made it a chance because it led to a penalty, with a VAR intervention one more time.
"So 2-1, then maybe their first chance of the game led to 2-2. We showed mentality to go 3-2 up. I think after that we had control. Of course, there's always the long ball, second ball, which you can't always make sure it doesn't happen.
"And then a set-piece comes in nine minutes of extra time and they score. That is part of our season. But the ones to blame are us. We concede these chances."
Liverpool's Dominik Szoboszlai to SportNews:
"I don't know what happened after 2-0. I think we thought the game was over.
"We said at the beginning of the game that this was the kind of game where you can never underestimate the team you play against.
"Maybe after the penalty, they just had their momentum to make it 2-2. We came back, so it was a good reaction from the team, but conceding again from a set-piece is not a nice way.
"We have to find solutions, we have to show reactions and everybody has to take responsibility. Not always the old guys or the guys that have been here longer, everybody.
"Everybody has to go on the pitch and show they are ready to fight for this badge."
Liverpool and Leeds meet again on January 1, this time at Anfield, live on SportNews.
Dec 9: Inter Milan (A) - Champions League
Dec 13: Brighton (H) - Premier League
Dec 20: Tottenham (A) - Premier League, live on SportNews
Dec 27: Wolves (H) - Premier League
Jan 1: Leeds (H) - Premier League, live on SportNews
Dec 14: Brentford (A) - Premier League, live on SportNews
Dec 20: Crystal Palace (H) - Premier League, live on SportNews+
Dec 28: Sunderland (A) - Premier League, live on SportNews
Jan 1: Liverpool (A) - Premier League, live on SportNews
Jan 4: Man Utd (H) - Premier League
