A Jamie Vardy brace and a Danny Drinkwater wonder-strike were enough to help Leicester City sink Liverpool.

The manager-less hosts showed more desire and more cohesion in their play and virtually wrapped up the game before half time at the King Power Stadium.

Vardy broke his scoring drought as he pounced on a sumptuous through ball after Nathaniel Clyne lost possession to gift Leicester an early first-half lead.

Drinkwater delivered a second blow before the interval with an outstanding strike from outside the box as the Reds once again looked flat-footed and static.

The second half saw something of an improvement in performance from Liverpool, but a second goal from Vardy on the hour sealed their fate.

Philippe Coutinho recorded a consolation with a tidy finish following a lovely run and lay-off from Emre Can but the match had long been lost by that stage.

Here were the key talking points from the King Power Stadium:

Defensive errors continue to cost Klopp

 

Unsurprisingly for a team that has picked up only six points from a possible 21, Liverpool’s defence remains an ongoing subject of discussion.

Joel Matip’s return last month was supposed to shore up a back line that was starting to leak goals in the final matches of 2016.

But injury to Dejan Lovren has meant that the back four is not the strongest.

Against Leicester, as they were in recent meetings with Swansea and Hull, the defence was at sixes and sevens whenever questions were asked of it.

Crosses and corners appear to be particularly susceptible scenarios, and teams are now looking to exploit those weaknesses every time they break forward.

Liverpool are in dire need of a genuine leader at the back that can marshal the line and ensure that they operate as a cohesive and robust unit.

Lucas Leiva, for all his experience, is not that character. Neither is Matip.

Henderson’s return is required ASAP

 

Replacing a Liverpool legend as captain is a thankless task, and Jordan Henderson does a job where he has received marginal credit.

But what the midfielder lacks in personality, he more than makes up for with early balls into the front players and supplies a link between defence and attack.

His influence and organisation also keeps the team gelled – all traits which were sorely lacking in his absence at the King Power Stadium this evening.

Henderson’s absence has compounded a Liverpool midfield which looks particularly threadbare after Joe Allen’s summer departure and injury to Marko Grujic.

Jurgen Klopp will be hoping his skipper can recover from the foot injury sidelined him for this clash – preferably in time for Saturday’s visit of Arsenal.

Lack of depth killing European hopes

 

With a number of first-team players still out of form, Klopp might be starting to realise that the quality to keep his first XI on its toes is simply not there.

James Milner and Lucas, both deputising in highly unfamiliar roles, have done well for the most part in their adapted positions as makeshift defenders.

But should two senior midfielders really be the club’s first-choice and back-up options respectively in positions where they are not specialists?

Similarly, a lack of definitive strikers available, with Daniel Sturridge often injured and Divock Origi still a relative tyro has seen Liverpool lacking a cutting edge since the turn of 2017.

Hope springs eternal in run-in

 

It is possible, as Arsenal show on an annual basis, to endure a month of difficult results at the business end of the season and still manage to qualify for Europe.

But Liverpool’s indifferent run of form has now extended into a second successive month – and the supposed wobble looks far more serious than an isolated blip.

In that time, a potential title challenge has been laid to waste and a Champions League return currently hangs very much in the balance.

Both will be a source of immense regret, but the nature in which the Reds have offering up points to four of the Premier League’s bottom seven is more concerning.

Fortunately the fixture calendar has looked favourably on Klopp’s men with a run-in that will draw on their penchant for scalping sides in the top half of the table.

Clashes against the Gunners, Manchester City and a Merseyside derby with Everton in the next four weeks will now decide if Liverpool have the mettle to achieve a top four finish.