Yeah Liverpool had a good start with the season but like they say, "it's not the beginning that really matters but the end that does", and this is just where Liverpool are about to find themselves in this race if they don't get back to winning ways quickly they might have a bad end of a season after a long winning run in the start.
Is one defeat a benchmark to judge Liverpool this season? Of course not. We only lost 1-0 and there is still a match where Leg 2 has the opportunity to turn things around. Tottenham were just lucky because if they could dominate the match, the first half should have given a surprise. The Reds can still catch up even though they have to play at Spurs home, I'm sure the aggregate will be chased by Arne Slot in the next meeting. Spurs are a little closer to the EFL Cup trophy but do you still believe they can win it? 
In the Premier League, Tottenham performance has been getting worse and they are not really a promising club. 
I will judge the performance on Liverpool when they play Tottenham again in the premier league not EFL. Because if Liverpool tries to pursue all trophies they might end up losing everything so it's best the have their priorities set and work in line with what they have planned out as a team.