Liverpool were held to a frustrating home draw by Chelsea.

Ryan Gravenberch opened the scoring in the sixth minute with a sublime strike from the edge of the penalty area after being teed up by Rio Ngumoha.

But the visitors drew level through Enzo Fernandez’s long-range free kick which eluded everyone inside the box and nestled into The Kop’s net.

Arne Slot’s side remain fourth in the Premier League table heading into their final two games of the current campaign as its reigning champions.

Here were the key talking points from Anfield:

Reds’ standards are slipping

Arne Slot angrily disputed Mohamed Salah’s assertion that Liverpool are in danger of standards slipping but that case may already be open and shut.

The outgoing Egyptian’s words served as a warning as much as a potential jibe at the head coach with whom he has already clashed in this campaign.

Slot, however, did little to disprove the assertion that a traditionally high bar at Anfield has already been lowered in a season which offers precious positives.

Ryan Gravenberch’s sublime opener should have instigated an onslaught against a Chelsea side dealing with their own, arguably more chaotic, issues.

Yet the visitors were able to end a run of sixth straight defeats thanks to a record-breaking 18th goal conceded from set pieces in the Premier League.

Such statistical ignominies have gone hand in hand with a dismal title defence for the Reds which is now on a slow crawl towards European qualification.

Slot has maintained that he foresees a brighter future ahead once this annus horribilis is out of the way but there is currently little evidence to point to that.

His side are no longer offering substance to offset their stylistic shortcomings and that alone speaks volumes of an ongoing, and alarming, deterioration.

Anfield turns up the heat on Slot

Unlike Liverpool’s owners, who recently drew supporter ire with attempts to lock in ticket price hikes, Slot had continued to enjoy a degree of goodwill.

Granted, fans no longer chant his name; some voted with their feet in recent weeks as the season continued to stutter and booing remained sporadic.

But the Dutchman had not faced an unbridled wave of dissent. Until now.

Slot’s penchant for persevering with Cody Gakpo was taken to new limits as the winger avoided an early hooking to facilitate Alexander Isak’s introduction.

Instead, it was one of the bright spots in an otherwise underwhelming outing who was sacrificed with Rio Ngumoha making way for the record signing.

The move drew widespread invective from this famous stadium before the teenage prodigy’s name was chanted with gusto in a more pointed response.

It was later clarified by Slot that Ngumoha’s withdrawal had been due to cramp but there was no potential misunderstanding on the final whistle.

Once a Liverpool manager – or, in this case, head coach – loses the core match-going support, there really is no way back – as Slot is now finding out.

Stopgaps are no longer solutions

Mounting injuries have required Liverpool to get creative with their line-ups.

Plugging gaps in positions where automatic choices are either absent or, in Isak’s case, lacking match fitness became increasingly necessary evils.

Now, though, it has reached a stage where those same square pegs in round holes is not an issue of incompatibility but an increasingly futile endeavour.

Curtis Jones has handled the pressure of filling in at right-back admirably of late before Marc Cucurella tormented him at will both halves of this encounter.

The homegrown midfielder was not the only one who found his limitations exposed with Jeremie Frimpong also guilty of struggling to make his mark.

Slot’s inability to find an established role for the Netherlands international hit new depths with his latest outing on the right wing proving highly ineffectual.

Gakpo, too, failed to positively impact movement in the attacking third as a false No.9; only shifting out wide after the contentious introduction of Isak.

Liverpool’s squad depth may have been tested but the current strategy for stand-ins, like most things this term, falls firmly on the man in the dugout.