Late goals are destroying Liverpool's season and the answers aren't obvious

It was early in the season that Liverpool supporters noticed a subtle change at the club's training ground.

Images of the campaign's key moments could be spotted on a wall while the squad trained, placed there to inspire the players as they looked to retain their Premier League crown.

And with each game that passed, the collection of images grew. First there is a picture of Federico Chiesa celebrating his 88th-minute goal against Bournemouth on the opening day of the Premier League season, a goal that put Liverpool back into the lead after the Cherries had come back from 2-0 down to draw level. Mohamed Salah would score in stoppage time to put the result beyond doubt.

Next to it was placed an image of teenager Rio Ngumoha scoring a dramatic winner in the 100th minute at St James' Park as Newcastle were beaten 3-2. A week later and Dominik Szoboszlai scored a free-kick in the 83rd minute against Arsenal, and the following weekend Salah scored a 95th-minute penalty at Burnley - a pair of back-to-back 1-0 wins, two more photos on the wall.

After five games, Liverpool had 15 points on the board and a whole set of images for the players to take inspiration from. The Reds were top of the league with a 100% record and favourites to retain their title.

Throw in a 92nd-minute winner against Atletico Madrid in the Champions League - another game in which Liverpool had surrendered a two-goal lead - and from the outside at least, things were looking good for Arne Slot's side. The Dutchman put his side's knack of winning games with late goals down to self-belief and fitness.

But the cracks were showing in the goals his team were conceding and now, five months on, there are precious few new images to line the walls of Liverpool's training ground.

The Reds' habit of scoring late winners has turned on its head, and it is they who are finding themselves conceding late on. Liverpool are now there for the taking.

In Liverpool's three league games that followed their golden start, they faced Crystal Palace, Chelsea and Manchester United and conceded winning goals in the 84th minute or later each time.

And when Erling Haaland dispatched his injury-time penalty at Anfield on Sunday, it was the fourth time that Liverpool had conceded an injury-time winner in the league this season. No team in a single Premier League campaign has ever conceded more.

Only three teams (Burnley, Leeds and Newcastle) have conceded more goals in the final 10 minutes plus injury time of games than Liverpool (10) this season and no team has lost more points than Liverpool (eight) from those goals.

Those eight points would put them level with Aston Villa in third, but instead Liverpool find themselves in sixth and four points behind Chelsea, who are fifth.

On occasions this season, Virgil van Dijk has used the word "sloppy" to describe Liverpool's struggles.

After a 1-1 draw against Burnley in January, the Liverpool captain said: "After 60 minutes, we started to become sloppy and it's not the first time. We have to address that."

A few days later in Milan, that quote was put to left-back Milos Kerkez, who told BBC Sport that he agreed with Van Dijk's assessment.

"After 60-70 [minutes] we always lose focus and lose some tactical discipline. I don't know, we get tired, I am not sure whatever it is, but I agree with that."

One of the big reasons Slot was brought in to succeed Jurgen Klopp was his impressive ability to keep his players fit. Of the shortlisted managers, only Ruben Amorim boasted a better record.

The Dutchman opted for a style of training that was less intense than what players may have been used to.

Slot had worked at Feyenoord with Ruben Peeters who followed him to Liverpool as the first team's lead performance coach. The pair tailored training to specific players, altering the intensity based on Liverpool's schedule and demands of upcoming games.

Sessions became longer but less intense and, on match days, Slot's Liverpool played less intensely out of possession than Klopp's teams did.

All of these factors, built upon a squad that was conditioned to play under Klopp, combined to leave them remarkably injury-free last season, resulting in Liverpool being crowned Premier League champions.

They have not been so fortunate this season.

Liverpool have looked to break teams down by initially committing bodies to the box, an approach that has left them vulnerable to counter-attacks.

Teams have deliberately looked to play long against Liverpool, which has also introduced more end-to-end running and duelling. The Liverpool players have physically struggled with this.

Slot has since gone for a more measured and defensively solid set-up which has reduced how end-to-end games are, but Liverpool struggle to score early.

The Premier League is home to the most sprints and high-intensity runs in Europe. Opponents can afford to minimise how much they run through a season by spending large parts of the game in their pragmatic low blocks.

However, Liverpool's fans are likely to want to see high-octane games from their side.

With an uptick in soft tissue injuries, there is a worry the training methods and on-field tactics described here have been sub-optimal this season when compared to last season, with Liverpool's players dropping off in the latter parts of games.

Between wanting to appease fans, ensuring his players stay fit, wanting to score early and aiming to stay solid at the back, the Liverpool boss has a difficult balancing act on his hands.

When Van Dijk spoke again on Sunday, the response was telling. Liverpool can't put a pin on it. As Slot repeatedly says, it's always a "different goal".

This time, the cause was one of Liverpool's most experienced players, goalkeeper Alisson, making a mistake as he fouled Matheus Nunes.

"I think you can't compare all of the goals. I think maybe you can compare the Palace goal and the Bournemouth goal, but this one you can't compare with the others. But the fact is that we conceded that late on and I keep saying it but we have to do better in this," said Van Dijk.

Asked if Liverpool were guilty of being sloppy again, Van Dijk added: "I don't know in this moment. It's difficult for me to say that. I don't have the whole game completely in front of me right now so it's something we will discuss [on Monday]."

Given Liverpool's injury crisis, the lack of depth on the bench is playing a part too. Manchester City were able to bring on Rayan Cherki who influenced the dynamic of Pep Guardiola's attack, while Slot's first substitution was Curtis Jones for Cody Gakpo in the 85th minute, before throwing on Chiesa in injury-time.

And that is precisely where Liverpool are at right now. A side aware of their cracks but unable to paper over them, never mind fix them.

Until Sunday, the Reds were unbeaten in 109 home league games when scoring the opening goal (W98 D11). It was the latest they have ever led in a Premier League game yet gone on to lose, with Bernardo Silva's 84th-minute equaliser followed by Haaland's late penalty.

The reality is that Szoboszlai's stunning free-kick for the opening goal on Sunday should be another image on that wall in Kirkby. In the end, it was worth nothing as Liverpool again failed to see the game out.

In Premier League history, no team has ever scored more injury-time winners than Liverpool. They stand clear with 47, ahead of Arsenal (36) and Manchester United (34).

Liverpool have been renowned for late drama across their illustrious history. Yet in the here and now, they're making the wrong kind of history.

As Slot said on Sunday: "We are getting almost used to conceding a goal in extra time."