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Will Liverpool regret their defensive failure by the end of the season?
Liverpool have the strongest attack of any other team in Europe, but they suffer a clear defensive deterioration. This has caused a disappointing 2-2 draw with Brighton in the team's last Premier League clash.
Former Liverpool player Danny Murphy was clear in his post-match assessment and told "match of the day 2": "For those who questioned Jurgen Klopp and the Liverpool team, even though they were tied, they were still in the title race and in the second half they should have won the game."
He continued: "There are a lot of positives from midfielders like Alexis McAlister, Dominic Subuslay; others are out of service ".
"Much better" than expected
In fairness to Murphy, his optimism with the team is normal, Liverpool started this season much better than last season. After eight games in the 2022-23 Premier League campaign, Liverpool won only two games and were ninth in the table with just 10 points.
A year later, the team is fourth, only three points behind surprising leaders Tottenham, despite the team playing strong games against Tottenham, Chelsea, Newcastle and Brighton, and Gary Neville admitting Liverpool are "much better than people expected".
Liverpool were beaten only once, against Tottenham and were it not for the VAR sensational error in the game, but the team came out level and league leaders as well.
However, there is no escaping the fact that before the start of the season, Klopp would have satisfactorily accepted 17 points from these difficult clashes so far.
Clean sheets only once in eight games
Doubts surrounding Klopp's battalion did not suddenly emerge and it is clear that despite all the good work done during the summer transfer window, Liverpool have not yet been able to resolve the defensive problems that led to their fifth place finish last season.
Liverpool, on average, conceded 1.24 goals per game in 2022-2023; This season is not much lower as they have conceded 1.13 goals and have managed to keep a clean sheet only once in 8 games so far.
But for no one to forget, they have also managed to win twice with 10 players, on the ground of the top four rivals, and Klopp and his players deserve a great deal of salute thanks to their tactical adjustments within the games and their remarkable fighting spirit this season as opposed to Liverpool last season that was lost.
Strong attack and weak defense
Liverpool always boast of the depth of their attacking options
Klopp owns the attacking quartet of Jota, Darwin Nunez, Louis Diaz, Cody Jackpo and Mohamed Salah, all of whom have proven their worth since arriving at Anfield.
As Alan Shearer said in his column for BBC Sport, "It is exciting to watch Liverpool when they go forward to attack, we have seen again in their draw with Brighton that their nets are breached very easily and there is something missing in the back."
"If you make a mistake, you will be punished."
The two goals scored in the Brighton game were a mistake by Liverpool players. The first put Virgil van Dijk, Alexis McAlister, in trouble with a pass that the Argentine did not react quickly enough to allow Simon Adingra to score.
Van Dijk then admitted that he had put his teammate in trouble because of a "dangerous ball," but said that such mistakes could happen when you "play from behind" the Dutch defender said in his interview with Sky Sports: "If you get it wrong, you're punished, but the way we came back was a great reaction."
Dodgy defense negates a lot of good work
The problem is Liverpool making a lot of mistakes in defence, undoing their good work in attack, painfully illustrated in Joel Matip's own goal in the final moments against Spurs.
Van Dijk told Sky: "I think Andy Robertson, he heard a scream and I thought it was Alison, it's a misunderstanding and it shouldn't happen, but nobody wants to make mistakes."
The player did well after joining the team as a result of Ibrahima Konate's injury, but the hope is that the Frenchman will return to the starting XI after the international break since he is at least less likely to be fouled.
Klopp and the club are clearly aware of this crisis, of course, and considerable efforts have been made to sign a centre-back during this summer, but the team has not succeeded in including any players and there has always been fear that Liverpool will pay the price of failing to strengthen their defensive line.
It was no surprise to hear Pierro Hincapi's agent last week confirm that the Reds are considering including the Bayer Leverkusen star next January.
If it's not Endo, is Andre the answer?
There was talk of Liverpool signing Fluminense midfielder Andre this summer and the Reds were eager to include the Brazilian but his side refused to sell him midway through the Brazilian league season.
Liverpool now certainly need a No. 6 player with repeated injuries to Thiago Alcantara, and Stefan Bačić not regaining full fitness.
Although Brighton's match was "made for Indo," as former Liverpool striker John Aldridge put it, in his column for the Liverpool Echo, Klopp instead chose to use McAlastair again as a defensive midfielder and is not his best position.
Given that offensive-minded Harvey Elliott also began surprisingly against Brighton, the Reds have lacked the right balance in midfield, especially when it comes to protecting a poor back four.
It is no coincidence that Liverpool have made a huge number of errors this season 99 in all games, the fourth worst tally in the Premier League.
"We missed a lot of set-pieces and it's hard to defend them all, but one is enough," Klopp said last Sunday.
Liverpool need Rice or Rodri
How would Liverpool perform if Declan Rice or Rodri were included?, This duo is the kind of defensive midfielder that Klopp's team needs.
Manchester City lost their final league game to Arsenal due to the absence of Rodri and Kevin De Bruyne, while the Gunners succeeded in the half-pitch battle thanks to Jorginho and Rice taking control of the game and snatching the victory in the final moments.
At present, Liverpool look like the most fun team in the Premier League but not the ultimate winner of the title.
