Source: PA
Reds downed in shock defeat
Liverpool's much-publicised issues off the pitch have been eclipsed by their problems on it as they slumped to an embarrassing 2-1 defeat at home to Barclays Premier League newcomers Blackpool.
Thousands of fans staged a pre-match protest march against the continuing ownership of Tom Hicks and George Gillett but there was a real danger of revolt inside Anfield at the final whistle.
Charlie Adam's penalty and Luke Varney's perfectly-timed run and finish did the damage in the first half and although Sotirios Kyrgiakos' header pulled one back Liverpool will spend the next fortnight rooted in the bottom three because of the forthcoming international break.
Adam converted from the spot just shy of the half-hour mark after Glen Johnson brought Varney down, and Varney then got in on the act as he tucked in at Pepe Reina's near post after a well-weighted pass from Gary Taylor-Fletcher.
Kyrgiakos got on the end of a Steven Gerrard cross to power his side back into it eight minutes after the restart, but Blackpool could have regained their two-goal advantage when DJ Campbell narrowly failed to get on the end of a Matt Phillips cross.
Liverpool did their best to get level, with Joe Cole firing wide, and it took a stunning last-second save from Matt Gilks to keep out another Kyrgiakos header.
