Gary Neville Hits Out at Liverpool's Defensive Mistakes in 'Groundhog Day' Defeat

A frustrated ​Gary Neville has hit out at Liverpool's recurring defensive mistakes following Sunday's 4-1 defeat against Tottenham at Wembley.

Dejan Lovren was heavily criticised for his errors that led to Spurs first two goals, while goalkeeper Simon Mignolet was at fault for the fourth.

Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool have now conceded 16 goals in just nine Premier League games, 15 of which have come away from home.

"The mistakes around those first two goals revolved around Dejan Lovren," said the Sky Sports pundit on the Gary Neville Podcast. "It destroyed them. I was about to praise the Liverpool players - you couldn't see any space - but then he decides to play offside from a throw-in.

"It's too much now for this Liverpool side in terms of how many goals they've conceded over the last five seasons.

"The ultimate for Liverpool is to win the Premier League and I think a couple of times in the last five years - particularly that season under Brendan Rodgers - they should have won it if they'd defended half-properly. They've conceded 50, 48 and 50 goals over the last three years. They've conceded the most goals away from home in the Premier League this season. That's wrong.

"Anfield is a fortress but they crumble away from home when they come under pressure. It's almost like Arsenal, where you keep seeing the same things, season after season. It's Groundhog Day.

"Liverpool have got a very good side - they've been one of the best sides for us to watch over the last two or three years and I say that as a neutral looking at all the Premier League teams in terms of their energy, their enthusiasm. Today they looked like a sad team. It's the first time I've seen that under Jurgen Klopp."

Klopp stressed after the defeat that Liverpool can rectify the defensive errors, but Neville has insisted that there are inherent issues with the club's defensive personnel.

"I genuinely believe you need a great goalkeeper to win the league and Liverpool can't win a league with that defence," he added. 

"We can say that Man Utd, Man City, Chelsea have spent more money - it's tough to win the league - but in these last few years, they could have won a title and it's the defending that has cost them. Liverpool Football Club with its history needs to win a title."