Liverpool midfielder Adam Lallana said he believes the lack of “winning” experience in the squad has cost them over the past month.
Jurgen Klopp’s side have yet to win a Premier League match in 2017 and their run of two points from a possible 12 has seen them slip outside the top four for the first time since September 24.
The draw at home to Premier League leaders Chelsea was expected to be the turning point to halt their slide but the team followed that up with defeat at struggling Hull City.
Liverpool’s only league defeats this season have come against Burnley, Bournemouth, Swansea City and Hull – all teams currently in the bottom nine. None of their top-four rivals have a similar record with Chelsea losing only to Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur and Klopp’s side.
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Antonio Conte’s side have dropped just two points in 12 matches against the bottom 10 – grinding out 1-0 wins at Middlesbrough, Crystal Palace and Sunderland – and Lallana says Liverpool need to discover something similar.
“You can see they have a lot of experience and that they are used to winning,” Lallana said in the Liverpool Echo. “They know how to win games even when not at their best. You don’t have to always win by scoring five or six.
“Maybe that’s an area we need to improve on. We maybe need to realise how good we are at times.
“Milly [James Milner] is probably the only one in our group who has that type of experience because it only comes from winning silverware like he did at Manchester City.
“Myself and the other players haven’t won titles or loads of cups so we need to learn from him and listen to him because that type of experience is vital.
“We need to learn and get back to winning ways in the league as soon as possible.”
Meanwhile, Thibaut Courtois has played down talk that Chelsea have an advantage over their Premier League rivals by not playing in Europe this season, saying it is harder to maintain momentum when they do not play as regularly.
Table-toppers Chelsea are the only team in the current top four to have not featured in a European competition this campaign.
“The players don’t want to relax. Everybody wants to play in Europe and if you’re in the rhythm of playing a game every three or four days, sometimes you can play better, even though it’s harder at the end of the season,” Courtois told British media. “The other year, when we were champions, we had European football so I don’t think it makes a big difference.”
* Agencies
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