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Liverpool's disappointing run shows no sign of slowing down after they suffered a fourth consecutive Premier League defeat intheir loss to Brentford. The reigning league champions dropped to sixth in the table after Saturday's 3-2 result, just two weeks after they were top of the table.

Dango Ouattara opened the scoring for the Bees, whose lead was doubled in the first half thanks to Kevin Schade. Milos Kerkez pulled a goal back at the stroke of half-time despite what was a poor showing fromArne Slot's side.

The home side were awarded a penalty in the 60th minute, which top scorer Igor Thiago dispatched with ease to give Brentford their two-goal lead again. With the Reds continuing to push on for a goal, they succeeded thanks to Mohamed Salah's superb strike - his first goal in six games.

However, the Egyptian star's third league goal of the season was only consolation as Brentford held on for all three points. The crisis at Liverpool continues as Mirror Football looks into criticism Salah has been subjected to as well as the mocking Slot received after the defeat.

Salah's 'disrespect' slammed

Despite Salah ending his goal drought, it was once again a lacklustre overall performance from the 33-year-old who has failed to display the record-breaking form he showed last season. His struggles this season has led to media, including Gary Neville, taking aim at his performances this season.

READ MORE: Liverpool given fresh Brentford VAR penalty verdict after decision overturned - 'In real time'

READ MORE: Andy Robertson's claim after 'selfish' Mo Salah criticism highlights Arne Slot's Liverpool problem

However, according to former Sky Sports reporter Melissa Reddy, the criticism levelled at Salah, and Slot, has gone too far. Taking to X following the defeat in west London, the South African journalist wrote: "It's beyond bad right now, but there is an unwarranted level of disrespect — aimed at Mo Salah and Arne Slot in particular — plus a rash writing off of signings already."

Slot's Brentford mocking

After a summer of colossal spending, nobody could predict Liverpool would decline as they've shown, especially their Premier League-winning manager in Slot. The Dutchman has yet to put a stop to the Reds' constant losing and lackadaisical performances.

Slot looks to have made excuses for his side's losses in recent weeks, which saw Brentford reference his post-defeat explanations in a mocking social media post on Saturday. It was before Liverpool's 2-1 loss to Manchester United that Slot criticised the Red Devils for dropping Benjamin Sesko to the bench, after starting him in previous games.

He said: "We've seen Sesko play the last three, four, five or six times, but they go to Liverpool they change the line-up. That's not the first where we've faced a team and they've done that." He also cited their low block style of play and penchant for long balls as a possible reason for their win at Anfield.

After the defeat, Slot said: "If you play United - who come here with a low block and playing a lot of long balls and you know that is going to be difficult as it's not easy to play through them and you don't get the chance to win the ball high up - and you concede after one or two minutes, it makes it harder."

Slot's past comments seemingly were the inspiration for Brentford's X post which read: "must have been that unchanged team'" in reference to their victory over the league champions.

Slow start struggles

Among the issues that have led to Liverpool's dire run of form is consistently slow starts in games which has resulted in several opposition teams taking early leads. It's a pattern that began at Selhurst Park where Ismaila Sarr's ninth-minute strike opened the scoring.

It continued the week after when Moises Caicedo's thunderbolt in the 14th minute saw Chelsea take the lead before Bryan Mbeumo netted past Giorgi Mamardashvili just two minutes into their clash last week.

Their hapless slow starts continued at the Gtech Community Stadium with Ouattara's close range shot nestling the net within five minutes of kick-off. The early struggles have been historically bad for the Reds with football data editor Michael Reid analysing that Liverpool have now conceded in the first 15 minutes of their last four league matches – the first time such a run has occurred since January 1996.

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