UCL 2018/2019: 5 reasons why Liverpool lost to Red Star Belgrade 

#3 Liverpool's attack failed to hit top gear

Salah and co failed to live up to their billing

For the second away Champions League match running, Liverpool's attackers put up a blunt showing and failed to step up when it mattered.

Liverpool is widely regarded as having one of the most potent attacks in the world, as Salah, Firmino and Mane provide dynamism and complement each other to devastating effect, and scored over 90 goals between themselves last season.

So far this campaign, they have struggled to hit those heights, with Salah, in particular, being the chief embodiment of their struggles this term, as the Egyptian has failed to match performances of last season.

In Serbia, one-third of the attack was missing as Firmino started from the bench, but that served as no justification for the lifeless display of The Reds in attack.

They struggled to impose themselves on the match, and did not create any clear-cut chances throughout the game, failing to worry Zoran Popovic in the Belgrade goal, and consigning him to be a relative spectator throughout the match, in scenes which were reminiscent of Liverpool's performance in their 0-1 defeat at Naples on matchday 2.

They did not have a shot on target at all until the 71st minute and were largely restricted to taking wild speculative shots from distance which failed to hit the target.

Without goals, games cannot be won, and Liverpool's attack has scored them in abundance over the last year, but against Red Star Belgrade, they struggled to reach their normal levels, and this was a major factor in their shock loss.