Liverpool Could Lose the Champions League If They Don’t Fix This One Urgent Thing

Gilabola.com – Jamie Carragher warned that Liverpool risk losing Champions League spots if they don’t improve their back line in the January window.

He assessed that the team’s performance under Arne Slot had declined, both in terms of physicality and match results, and emphasized that the current squad was not strong enough to compete in the Premier League. This situation is made worse by the inconsistency of the defensive players and the lack of squad depth.

Liverpool entered this season with high expectations after winning the Premier League last season. However, their journey changed drastically in just a few weeks of competition.

From 11 league matches, they have lost five. This number even exceeds the total losses in the season when they won the title.

This condition places Liverpool in eighth position in the standings. An eight-point difference from Arsenal makes their chances of winning even further away. This bad record is accompanied by a downward performance trend. They have only won once in the last six matches.

The crushing 0–3 defeat to Manchester City before the international break also emphasized unresolved problems. Carragher believes that the defeat shows that Liverpool is having difficulty dealing with a playing style that relies on physical duels.

Carragher’s Assessment and Analysis of Liverpool’s Problems

Carragher explained that he thought Liverpool’s several defeats showed the team’s inability to deal with the intensity of the Premier League. He also assessed that Slot tried to change his game approach to be more dominant with the ball, but the change did not go smoothly.

He thinks Slot gave too much praise to Pep Guardiola before the meeting against Manchester City. For Carragher, this method shows that Liverpool is trying to follow other teams’ styles, not strengthen their own identity.

Carragher believes the current squad is not ready to compete in the title race. He believes that the team needs the injection of players who are physically stronger and faster in one-on-one duels.

He emphasized that without a new defender in January, Liverpool could potentially miss out on next season’s Champions League. This opinion strengthens voices that think Liverpool’s defense is in a precarious condition.

So far this season, Liverpool have only recorded three clean sheets in the Premier League. One additional clean sheet only occurred against Real Madrid in the Champions League.

They have conceded 17 goals in the league and eight goals in other competitions. This figure is very far compared to other title competitors such as Arsenal or Manchester City.

The problem is becoming more complex because the performance of Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate is declining. Konate is even said to be being linked with a possible move to Madrid.

Meanwhile, plans to add power last summer also did not go as expected. Marc Guehi almost joined from Crystal Palace, but drama on Deadline Day meant the transfer fell through.

Guehi is said to still be a possible target in January. His contract running out at Palace makes the transfer more realistic than last summer.

Liverpool actually brought in Giovanni Leoni, but the young Italian defender suffered an ACL injury on his debut. This condition makes the depth of the back line increasingly thin.