Liverpool trio torn to shreds after pundit names six teams who’ll finish above them before mocking Klopp

Former Aston Villa forward Gabby Agbonlahor has hit out at Liverpool following their 1-0 defeat at Nottingham Forest. 

Taiwo Awoniyi scored the only goal of the game at the City Ground as the Reds succumbed to their third Premier League defeat of the season.

Jurgen Klopp’s men have dropped to seventh in the table and trail league leaders Arsenal by a massive 11 points. What’s more, they have now lost more games than in the entirety of last season.

Agbonlahor was scathing in his assessment of the team while speaking on talkSPORT, reserving particularly stinging criticism for Joe Gomez, Fabinho and Fabio Carvalho.

The 36-year-old said: “Where do you start with Liverpool?

“First of all, Fabio Carvalho doesn’t look like he’s Premier League quality. He doesn’t look ready, he needs another season out on loan.

“He struggled, he’s not influenced the game, he looked non-existent. Harvey Elliott played well, but Curtis Jones struggled. These are talented kids but right now Liverpool need players to turn up.

“And Fabinho’s legs have gone. His idea of a sprint is like a walk at the moment.

“Liverpool have got a lot of problems. Roberto Firmino is inconsistent, Mohamed Salah was poor today, and Joe Gomez, he has two decent games and everyone is saying he can go to the World Cup, but today he was awful again. So sloppy.”

Earlier this season, Agbonlahor and Klopp engaged in a war of words following Liverpool’s stuttering start to the season.

The talkSPORT pundit took another jibe at the Liverpool manager, saying: “Mr Mentality Monster, Jurgen, five games away from home without a win this season – can he only get them up for home games at a full Anfield?

“Can he not get his ‘mentality monster’ team up for away games? Because today was shocking from Liverpool. Every player apart from Alisson was below a five out of ten today.”

Are Liverpool top-four worthy?

As things stand, Liverpool sit five points adrift of fourth-placed Chelsea. The Reds haven’t missed out on a Champions League spot since their eighth-placed finish back in 2015/16.

However, with the team unable to shake off their inconsistencies, there are doubts over how far Liverpool can go this season.

Agbonlahor certainly shared that same notion, saying: “Liverpool getting back into the top-four – can you name four better teams better than Liverpool in the Premier League at the moment?

“Easily! Man City, Arsenal, Man United, Spurs, Chelsea, and there are more than that. Newcastle, even.

“I said at the start of the season I don’t think Liverpool will get into the Champions League this season, and I stand by that.

“I’m not getting carried away by them beating Rangers, who were dreadful, or beating Man City due to Pep Guardiola’s mistakes with his tactics.

“They didn’t fancy it [yesterday] at all against Nottingham Forest. Liverpool are so inconsistent. They were toothless.

“Forest were the better team, they put it on Liverpool’s toes, they looked organised, Lingard looked better today, Gibbs White looked much better today.”

Huge six games ahead

Liverpool face a huge six-game run before the World Cup break. Their first obstacle is a trip to Amsterdam in the Champions League as they take on Ajax.

The Reds will then turn their attention to Leeds United, Napoli, Tottenham, Derby County (EFL Cup) and Southampton.

Klopp will be intent on turning around the fortunes of his side, though considering their inconsistent nature, there could be more road bumps ahead.

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