Liverpool manager Arne Slot has admitted his side have lost their “fear factor” as Sunderland secured a 1-1 draw at Anfield on Wednesday.

The Premier League champions have now gone three home games without a win, needing a Nordi Mukiele own goal to rescue a point against the Black Cats.

Sunderland looked set for their first win at Anfield since 1983 after Chemsdine Talbi’s deflected strike put the visitors ahead. Even after Mukiele inadvertently turned Florian Wirtz’s effort into his own net to equalise, Wilson Isidor squandered a golden chance to snatch all three points when his shot was cleared off the line by Federico Chiesa in stoppage time.

Liverpool’s form has dipped dramatically since winning their opening five league matches, claiming just two victories in their last nine.

“Teams that play us now think they can get a result,” Slot said. “Not only think, because that has been shown this season. Even the games we have won, we have fuelled the confidence for other teams that something is possible, because the wins we had weren’t easy ones either.”

Any optimism from Sunday’s 2-0 victory at West Ham was quickly extinguished. Mohamed Salah was left on the bench for a second consecutive match, while Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak again failed to justify their combined price tag of over £100 million.

Salah came on at the start of the second half but struggled to break down Sunderland’s well-organised defence.

“I knew before the game that Sunderland is a hard team to score against, hard to create chances against,” Slot added. “It was a game where we didn’t concede a lot or create a lot, and we were really unlucky with the goal we conceded. It was a deflection and could have gone anywhere, but in the period we are in, it went in.”