Liverpool were once an unstoppable source of energy, but now they just look tired.

SELHURST PARK. On the plus side, a long-awaited zero after the mid-week rout of Real Madrid. On the other hand, well, everything else.

At their best, Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool were the Tasmanian Devils, a formidable force of nature that overwhelmed their opponents with insane pressure, fast passing and relentless finishing. This season, her dominant spells come and go in waves, a 10 minute spell here, a 15 minute spell there. As with the embarrassing defeat to Real Madrid, they remember how to play the greatest hits but can’t play a full 90-minute set.

After this record defeat, attention turned to what Klopp’s Liverpool 2.0 could look like. Calls for Jude Bellingham, chosen to fix Klopp’s creaky midfield, are getting louder, with Klopp admitting on Friday that the club “has to do something in the summer” to keep up with their money-hungry rivals. As obvious as it may be, Liverpool cannot afford to finish the season in the top four.

Perhaps after a goalless draw with Crystal Palace no serious investigation is needed, but it was still a performance that exposed Liverpool’s shortcomings. Klopp won all of his seven trips to Selhurst Park ahead of Saturday’s game but admitted the draw was a “good moment” for his team. Liverpool had a few scoring chances, but Palace later looked like the more likely of the two.

The most notable aspect of Liverpool’s game was how often they lost the ball to inappropriate passes and first touches that turned into tackles.

No player epitomized general slovenliness more than Trent Alexander-Arnold. The first half was a TAA show, and not in a good way. In the first 45 minutes, Alexander-Arnold took aim: right from the field he tried a heel, crossed Crossfield to Andy Robertson in contact, created Palace’s first big moment with a sloppy back pass and earned a second in his pocket. Bag, both spent by Jean-Philippe Mateta.

During this campaign, it sometimes seemed that Alexander-Arnold was somehow doomed. That every wrong judgment is inevitably punished. A tough evening ended when Alexander-Arnold’s free-kick bounced off the back of Jordan Henderson’s head. Of all the people who could hit the ball from close range, Henderson, with his fixed, growling face, probably wouldn’t be his first choice.

With the results 20 minutes before time and Liverpool chasing the winner to put them four points clear of fourth-place Tottenham, Alexander-Arnold was sent off. 14 league goals last season (12 assists, 2 goals) were considered expendable and replaced by 37-year-old James Milner.

“It was just plain clear,” Klopp said after his decision to sack the England international. “We thought before the game if it was too much for him or something, but then he started. This is it.”

Alexander-Arnold is the obvious scapegoat for Liverpool’s general malaise, as his mistakes usually happen in his own third, but he is far from the only fighter in their ranks and enjoys more credibility on the bench than most.

Even the most die-hard members of Naby Keita’s fan club would have come to terms with the fact that the once anointed savior of Liverpool’s midfield has run out of time and opportunity. After a good start, the Guinean’s career at Anfield slowly and irrevocably began to decline. After four fouls and four misses on 20 assists, he was sent off at half-time. The £53m deal, signed five years ago, will go free this summer without anyone blinking an eye.

Harvey Elliot, who replaced Keith, was equally ineffective. The teenager made two attacks, but for the wrong team, careless passes quickly picked up the occupied striped jerseys. He completed only 67 percent of his steps; only Cody Gakpo (65 percent) scored a smaller percentage than his teammates.

The theme of the evening was that Liverpool players turned after losing possession and raced towards their goal, resulting in sharp fingers, arms outstretched and everyone around them frowning.

Perhaps things would have been different if Captain Chaos had been available. Klopp revealed ahead of the game that Darwin Nunes had suffered a re-injury to the shoulder he suffered at Newcastle last weekend, though he hoped to see him again during Wolves’ visit on Wednesday. Nunes, perhaps more than anyone else, has that irresistible power that was once the hallmark of this team.

However, Diogo Jota, who replaced Nunez, was arguably Liverpool’s smartest player that evening. He forced Guaita’s first save with a razor-sharp punch and headbutted the post from behind. His return is another plus.