In a period of extremely poor results, Liverpool manager Arne Slot has seen his position at the club come under question for the first time as the Reds boss.
The Dutchman put out a weakened line-up against Crystal Palace in the Carabao Cup, with the bench containing no members of the first team squad.
The likes of Virgil Van Dijk, Alexander Isak and Mo Salah were just some of the names who had to watch from the side-lines, as they witnessed their teammates crash out of the tournament with a 3-0 defeat.
With questions being asked about the decisions of the Liverpool manager, from the tactics of the side to the personnel selected, is Slot's job really in danger after celebrating a Premier League title only 5 months ago?
With the Reds unable to keep a clean-sheet in their last 11 matches in all competitions, fingers will immediately be pointed to the defence when asked who is to blame for that damning stat.
However, when you actually look deeper into the positioning of the team, it is the midfield's lack of balance and structure which is one of the main reasons for the poor performances of the last couple of months.
The midfield that won the Reds their twentieth league title has been tweaked due to the arrival of Florian Wirtz, which seems to have completely disrupted the unit that is supposed to protect the Liverpool backline.
With that change, the middle of the park is left wide open on many occasions during the 90 minutes and with any misplaced pass in the centre of the pitch, a counterattacking side like Crystal Palace, Brentford or even Manchester United can break onto the defence in a flash.
Bryan Mbeumo's first minute goal at Anfield a few weeks ago shows this, with Van Dijk colliding with Alexis Mac Allister, the winger was easily able to tear through the Liverpool backline with much ease.
The same can be said for Brentford's second goal at the GTECH Community Stadium last weekend. When Hugo Ekitike loses possession in the middle of the Bees' half, one pass from Mikkel Damsgaard is all it took to open the Liverpool defence up and send Kevin Schade in one-on-one.
The midfield that would dominate anyone it played last season is now lacking that ability that was so important in the clubs title win. The addition of Wirtz is also a headache for the manager, as the German is the new man in the midfield that is now seemingly so easy to play through.
There is no doubt that the German has immense ability, but after spending over £100 million on the 22-year-old it is the job of the coaching team to work out where he fits in this side.
The midfielder's physicality doesn't quite reach the standards of the Premier League right now and adding Wirtz into the squad could be one of the reasons why the midfield isn't at the levels of last season.
Another member of the squad to point out is Mac Allister, who after a shortened pre-season due to injury, doesn't look at the same level that he was last season. The Argentine hasn't played much of a role so far this season and with the slight change in the style of play, does the 26-year-old still fit into Slot's plans?
Whether the main issue at the champions is the midfield, defence or attack something needs to change quickly in terms of performance and results, otherwise Slot may find himself falling down an inevitable hole towards the sack.
The Reds have Aston Villa and Real Madrid at Anfield before a trip to the Etihad to face Manchester City as their next three matches before the international break.
