Steve McManaman has delivered a scathing assessment of Liverpool’s dismal 3-0 defeat to Atalanta on Thursday night, claiming that there ‘was a lot for Jurgen Klopp to explain’.

The Reds haven’t lost at Anfield since they were beaten by Real Madrid 5-2 in the Champions League in February 2023.

Despite that, a brace from Gianluca Scamacca and a late goal from Mario Pasalic now means that Liverpool have it all to do in the return fixture in Italy.

‘This victory means more to them [Atalanta] of course because last time Liverpool had qualified and changed the team,’ McManaman said to TNT Sports. ‘This time this is against the favourites at Anfield, the favourites who people expected to walk to Dublin.

‘And woah! They’ve put a stop to that talk. And do you know what, they haven’t deserved it tonight. Liverpool have been very average. They’ve been amazing this year and all the nice things that have been said about them, but tonight… Wow the wheels have come off.

‘All the substitutions that have been made haven’t had an impact as they have had this year. It will be interesting to see what the manager has to say when he explains it away… because there’s a lot to explain!’

Speaking on the return fixture, he added: ‘They’ll have to keep a clean sheet at Bergamo and they’re finding that hard to do.’