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This past weekend saw a seismic result in the Premier League, as reigning champions Liverpool were destroyed 7-2 by Aston Villa, who only narrowly avoided relegation in the 2019-20 campaign.
However, for as shocking as the result was, it wasn’t the first time that the reigning Premier League champions have been embarrassed in a defeat. Manchester United fans who recall their 5-0 loss to Newcastle United in 1996 would attest to this.
It also wasn’t the first time that Liverpool had suffered an embarrassing defeat, either. Over the years, the Reds have slumped to some truly shocking losses, and here are five of them.
#1 Coventry City 5-1 Liverpool – Premier League 1992-93
The inaugural Premier League season saw Liverpool in the midst of their early 90s slump under boss Graeme Souness. And the Reds had gotten off to a pretty horrible beginning to the campaign. By October, they’d won just two of their first 10 matches, and November saw them dumped out of the European Cup Winners’ Cup by Spartak Moscow.
Much worse was to come, though. December 19th saw Liverpool travel to the Midlands for a match with perennial strugglers Coventry. And after winning four of their previous five, the Reds expected a comfortable win.
Instead, the Sky Blues absolutely dismantled Souness’ side, taking the lead through a Brian Borrows penalty in the first half. They then extended their lead to 3-0 with two quick-fire goals midway through the second.
Jamie Redknapp pulled a goal back with a free-kick just three minutes after Coventry’s third goal, but was sent off just fou later, compounding Liverpool’s pain.
And to add even more humiliation, boyhood Liverpool fan Mick Quinn then added a brace, handing the Sky Blues a famous win – and leaving the Reds with their heaviest defeat since 1976. Quinn later stated that he would’ve loved to have played for Liverpool – but scoring against them was the next best thing.
#2 Liverpool 1-2 Blackpool – Premier League 2010-11
The 2010-11 season was undoubtedly a modern low point for Liverpool. The Reds had appointed new boss Roy Hodgson in the summer to replace the outgoing Rafa Benitez, But to say the future England and Crystal Palace manager failed to make a positive impact would be an understatement.
Hodgson’s Liverpool slumped to a stunning amount of defeats in the first half of the season. And after winning just seven of their first 20 games, the Reds were forced to dispose of the under-fire boss.
However, the nadir for Hodgson’s Liverpool actually came in the first game of October 2010. By that stage, the Reds had been defeated by both Manchester City and Manchester United. But Liverpool fans were about to experience something much worse.
Ian Holloway’s newly-promoted Blackpool side had been struggling from the off in their maiden Premier League season, suffering heavy defeats in three of their opening six games. Nobody really gave them a chance when they visited Anfield, but evidently, nobody had given the Seasiders that script.
Blackpool’s incredible work rate put Liverpool under immense pressure from the off, and Holloway’s side utterly outclassed Hodgson’s Reds throughout the first half. When Charlie Adam slotted home a penalty after Glen Johnson bought Luke Varney down in the box, it was only what Blackpool deserved.
And when Varney doubled the Seasiders’ lead in the dying moments of the half, it was clear that Liverpool were in deep trouble.
Hodgson’s side did attempt a comeback in the second half, having nine shots on target. But despite Sotirios Kyrgiakos heading in from a Steven Gerrard free-kick, Liverpool couldn’t find an equaliser and slumped to a hugely embarrassing defeat.
#3 Stoke City 6-1 Liverpool – Premier League 2014-15
When Brendan Rodgers led Liverpool to within an inch of claiming their first-ever Premier League title in the 2013-14 campaign, hopes were high for the following season despite the Reds’ relatively poor finish.
However, Rodgers was unable to inspire another title challenge. And the final nine matches of the campaign saw Liverpool win just two games, losing five of them. However, the Reds undoubtedly saved the worst till last.
In what would turn out to be the final game in a Liverpool shirt for legendary captain Steven Gerrard, the Reds were absolutely smashed by Stoke City. They came away from the Britannia Stadium with a horrendous 6-1 defeat.
Things started badly from the off, when Stoke forward Mame Biram Diouf scored a brace in a wild four-minute spell, and just minutes after that, Jonathan Walters added a third.
With the Reds’ defence – consisting of Martin Skrtel and Mamadou Sakho – all over the place, Charlie Adam and Steven N’Zonzi also found the back of the net, leaving Liverpool trailing 5-0 at half time. It was essentially game over.
The second half saw the Reds stabilise somewhat after Rodgers sent on substitute Kolo Toure. And despite Stoke having more chances at goal, it was Liverpool who scored next. Gerrard was able to finish from close range following a pass from Rickie Lambert.
However, to add salt into the Reds’ wounds, former Liverpool striker Peter Crouch popped up to head in a sixth goal with just minutes remaining.
Rodgers would last just five more months in the job after leading the Reds to their worst defeat since 1963’s 7-2 loss to Spurs.
#4 Tottenham 4-1 Liverpool – Premier League 2017-18
When Jurgen Klopp took over the reins at Anfield in October 2015, Liverpool fans hoped that the German would bring back the good times. And sure enough, that was eventually the case, with the Reds winning the Champions League in 2018-19 and then following that with their first Premier League title in 2019-20.
However, there were more than a few bumps in the road along the way, and one such bump happened in October 2017. Liverpool travelled to Wembley to take on Tottenham on the back of a strong run of one defeat in seven games, but that run came to an abrupt end.
Spurs shot out of the blocks and found themselves in a 2-0 lead after just 12 minutes, with Liverpool defender Dejan Lovren to blame for both goals. The Croatian’s performance was so bad that Klopp hooked him in favour of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain after just 31 minutes. But even that didn’t help matters.
Despite Mohamed Salah pulling a goal back on 24 minutes, Tottenham continued to dominate the game. And when Dele Alli added a third at the end of the first half, it was only what Mauricio Pochettino’s side deserved.
It was painfully clear that Spurs would score again in the second half, and sure enough, Kane added his second goal after 56 minutes following some poor goalkeeping from Simon Mignolet. In the end, the fact that the game finished just 4-1 was perhaps flattering to Liverpool.
Of course, every cloud has a silver lining, though. After this horror show, the Reds finally agreed to splash out £70m on Virgil van Dijk in the next transfer window. The rest, as they say, is history.
#5 Aston Villa 7-2 Liverpool – Premier League 2020-21
The most recent embarrassing result on this list also marked the first time Liverpool had conceded seven goals since 1963. That game saw Spurs thump them 7-2, a result that Dean Smith’s Aston Villa equalled here.
Incredibly though, this game was one that saw the reigning Premier League champions facing a side who’d only escaped relegation on the final day of the previous season.
Fans who watched the game could’ve been forgiven for believing that it was Villa who were reigning champions and Liverpool the strugglers. Smith’s side flew out of the blocks, capitalising on an error from deputy keeper Adrian that allowed Ollie Watkins to score his first Premier League goal.
The Villans doubled their lead on 22 minutes, when Watkins raced through to score his second. But when Mo Salah pulled a goal back, it appeared that Jurgen Klopp’s side would pull off one of their usual comebacks.
Here though, it wasn’t to be. Villa’s front line of Watkins, Jack Grealish, Trezeguet and Ross Barkley exposed Liverpool’s risky high line time after time, and John McGinn added a third before Watkins completed his hat-trick before half-time.
Worse was to come as Barkley added a fifth goal just 10 minutes into the second half. And despite Salah pulling another back, he couldn’t prevent Villa’s attackers from simply bullying Liverpool’s defence – even the usually-imperious Virgil van Dijk.
Eventually, a brace from Grealish handed Villa a 7-2 victory, but in truth, they could well have scored 10 or 11 on another day. Quite how Liverpool bounce back from such an embarrassing loss is a major question mark going forward.
