Is King Kenny's midas touch waning?

Has King Kenny's golden touch expired at Liverpool? Was Sunday's 3-1 defeat to West Ham a blimp in the side's return to form under the Scotsman or is reality crashing down on Liverpool now that the euphoria surrounding Dalglish' second stint at the club is beginning to die down?

It's hard to tell at this point. On one hand, last night's display at Upton Park bared a remarkable resemblance to the side that sent Roy Hodgson packing after six months at Anfield.The defense was in shambles while there was a severe lack of creativity up front and Steven Gerrard seemed terribly out of place in the centre of the park with Lucas. At the end of the night, no one from Liverpool could have argued the scoreline. As has been the case all season, the Reds were once again outplayed by an inferior opponent.

Perhaps Dalglish got his tactics wrong this time around and probably didn't help when both Martin Kelly and Raul Mereles were taken off early in the game. Both players have been extremely instrumental in Liverpool's recent string of wins. Nonetheless, it was clear for everyone to see that the Reds lacked ideas trying to crack open West Ham's sturdy defense.

Even new signing Luis Suarez was played an insignificant role for much of the match until some brilliant individual skill by the Uruguayan forward led to a consolation goal by Glen Johnson and a brief glimmer of hope for Dalglish' side until another defensive error in stoppage time gifted Carlton Cole West Ham's third and final goal of the night.

Perhaps the Reds will fare better once Andy Carroll returns from injury. But it is clear that there is a severe lack of quality in the squad and this was more evident whenever they are up against a side that would rather sit back and hit them on the break.

This Sunday, Dalglish will face a test very similar to the one he faced when he first took over from Hodgson and the Scotsman knows all too well that the Reds cannot afford another defeat in already tumultuous campaign for the Merseysiders.

But with Man Utd seeminly unstoppable these days, Dalglish will have muster all his experience to claim a famous victory over Liverpool's bitter opponents. More importantly, he knows that defeat to the Devils could begin another downward spiral in confidence for his beloved Liverpool.