When Anfield Turned Into a Nightmare: Liverpool's Most Crushing Home Defeats
Anfield is famous as Liverpool's stronghold fortress supported by passionate fans, yet there have been numerous dark moments at this legendary stadium.
Liverpool have endured some humiliating losses at home throughout their distinguished history, with most of their heaviest Anfield defeats occurring in the early-to-mid 1900s. Sunderland actually delivered the Reds' most crushing home embarrassment, securing a 6–0 victory during their visit to Merseyside in April 1930.
Nevertheless, Liverpool have been far from unbeatable at Anfield in recent decades. While they still maintain an exceptional home record, there have been numerous notable and high-scoring losses since the Premier League began.
Here is an overview of Liverpool's five biggest home defeats in the contemporary period.
5. Liverpool 0–3 Crystal Palace (29/10/2025)
One of Liverpool's most significant Anfield defeats occurred in very recent memory. Arne Slot fielded a heavily rotated and relatively inexperienced squad for the Carabao Cup fourth round encounter with Crystal Palace in October 2025, with the Reds predictably struggling as a consequence.
Ismaïla Sarr, who consistently enjoys netting against Liverpool, delivered a rapid double before the interval to doom Slot's unfamiliar formation to a punishing loss, which was further intensified in the final stages.
Youth graduate Amara Nallo received his marching orders for a professional foul—his second Liverpool dismissal in just his second senior appearance—and Yéremy Pino added insult to injury with a composed third goal in stoppage time.
4. Liverpool 1–4 Chelsea (02/10/2005)
Liverpool were completely overwhelmed by reigning Premier League champions Chelsea early in the 2005–06 campaign. The Reds had made a disappointing beginning to the season under Rafa Benítez and were dominated by José Mourinho's Blues, who took the lead halfway through the opening period through Frank Lampard.
Steven Gerrard equalized against the team he had nearly joined months before, but Damien Duff regained Chelsea's lead prior to the interval.
Didier Drogba, who had already provided assists for Chelsea's opening two strikes, then set up future Liverpool player Joe Cole for the visitors' third goal, with Geremi completing the rout in the final 10 minutes as the Blues demolished the Reds while defending their championship.
3. Liverpool 1–4 Manchester City (07/02/2021)
The Anfield faithful were fortunate to be confined to their homes for Manchester City's visit in February 2021. The coronavirus pandemic meant that Liverpool's stadium was vacant for their demolition by Pep Guardiola's team, with Alisson especially relieved to have avoided criticism from his own fans following multiple expensive mistakes.
İlkay Gündoğan became Liverpool's nemesis throughout, recovering from a first-half penalty miss to score twice after halftime. Both goals came from close range, with the second handed to the German midfielder after Alisson's dreadful clearance allowed Phil Foden to assist him.
Mohamed Salah had converted from the penalty spot between Gündoğan's goals, but another Alisson blunder enabled Man City to establish a comfortable advantage. A disastrous pass found Bernardo Silva, who located former Liverpool player Raheem Sterling for a simple finish.
Matters deteriorated further in the closing 10 minutes as Foden fired past Alisson to seal a devastating defeat for the defending champions.
2. Liverpool 2–5 Real Madrid (21/02/2023)
After being defeated by record European champions Real Madrid in the previous season's Champions League final, Liverpool experienced further torment from Los Blancos in the competition's round of 16 during 2022–23.
Events began brilliantly for the Reds as Darwin Núñez and Salah found the net against the Spaniards within the first 15 minutes, but everything went downhill from there as the Reds collapsed.
Vinícius Júnior struck twice before halftime to restore parity for Madrid, before Karim Benzema dominated after the break. The French striker netted a brace to complement Éder Militão's header and leave the Reds requiring an extraordinary comeback at the Santiago Bernabéu in the return leg to advance.
No such comeback materialized as Liverpool fell 1–0 in the Spanish capital.
1. Liverpool 3–6 Arsenal (09/01/2007)
Liverpool have only allowed six goals at Anfield once during the Premier League era. Arsenal were their destroyers in the League Cup quarter-final of 2006–07, dismantling a depleted Liverpool side to advance to the semifinals.
Five of the match's nine goals occurred before the interval. Robbie Fowler's strike for the hosts couldn't prevent them from being severely behind at halftime, with Júlio Baptista netting twice alongside goals from Jérémie Aliadière and Alex Song.
Baptista secured his hat-trick on the hour mark shortly after squandering a penalty to shock the Anfield supporters, and despite late consolations from Gerrard and Sami Hyypiä, Arsenal's Brazilian added his fourth goal in the final minutes to inflict more pain on the Reds.
More than a third of Baptista's total Arsenal goals came at Anfield during that freezing January evening.