Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has admitted that he was left lost for words after the Reds were embarrassed 3-0 by Wolverhampton Wanderers to prolong their miserable spell of form.
Klopp's men had edged Julen Lopetegui's side 1-0 at Molineux back in January during an FA Cup third-round replay, but there was nothing for the Reds to cheer this time around.
Wolves took just 12 minutes to make the net ripple twice, as Joel Matip - deputising for the injured Ibrahima Konate - scored an unfortunate own goal with just five minutes on the clock.
Liverpool did not learn their lessons defensively and were 2-0 down just seven minutes later, as Craig Dawson fired home into the roof of the net on a dream debut for the centre-back.
The Reds showed a bit more bite in the second 45 minutes, but Darwin Nunez squandered a brilliant chance one-on-one with Jose Sa before Ruben Neves put the cherry on the icing on the cake in the 71st minute.
A torrid start to 2023 has seen Liverpool lose their last three Premier League away games to Brentford, Brighton & Hove Albion and now Wolves - conceding nine goals and scoring just once in the process.
Liverpool have now lost three successive Premier League away games for the first time since 2012, and Klopp was at a loss to explain his side's horrendous run of form at the full-time whistle.
"Obviously it was a horrible start. Two goals which cannot happen like that. But it happened and we were 2-0 down because of our own fault. We should have defended better. We were passive in that period. I cannot explain it. There is no excuse for it," Klopp told Premier League Productions.
"Concentration for the first 15 minutes. Again, I cannot explain. But these 15 minutes cannot be allowed. It needs to change. That's the thing. I stand here again and for the first 15 minutes I have no explanation, I'm sorry.
"In the end we lost 3-0 because the goal in the second half was perhaps the first time they crossed the halfway line. But it's right because when you start like this you don't deserve anything in a Premier League game."
Still without a Premier League win since Wout Faes's pair of own goals in a 2-1 victory over Leicester City on December 30, Liverpool's next contest sees them host Everton in a Merseyside derby in nine days' time.
Unlike their counterparts in red, Everton opened the Premier League weekend in stunning fashion with a 1-0 win over league leaders Arsenal in Sean Dyche's first game in charge.
"We have to change it immediately in the next game. Everton won today and they are in a good moment so we have to prove a point again. For the moment, I'm so disappointed and angry about the first 15 minutes, I can't find the words for it," Klopp added.
"Then we have chances we should score. It could have been 2-1 and that would have changed everything I'm sure. Wolves deserve the three points. That's clear.
"We cannot go through that season that nobody did before but how long do we want to suffer? It is one explanation in general yes, but not for the first 15 minutes here today. What we make of it in this moment is absolutely not OK."
Liverpool remain 10th in the standings after Saturday's defeat, 10 points adrift of the Champions League places and four adrift of seventh-placed Brentford, who have played a game more. body check tags ::
