Arne Slot faces crucial decision to avoid Liverpool crisis as Man Utd issue emerges
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“Buy a defender!!!!”. That was Jamie Carragher’s blunt message on social media after seeing Liverpool fail to keep another clean sheet at Nottingham Forest. Liverpool have managed just three shut-outs in the last 11 games after recording 11 in their first 20. Carragher said: “The defensive solidity they had at the start of the season has gone. Always look likely to concede.”.
Although Liverpool produced a barnstorming finale at Forest and created enough chances to win, they have been beaten just Accrington Stanley in their last four games, losing one and drawing the other two. This blip is their worst run of the season and they have left the door ajar to give Arsenal fresh hope in the title race when there was none.
They have conceded 14 goals in their last 11 games, compared to just 12 in their first 20. Carragher’s solution to buy a defender is not as easy as it sounds and Liverpool are highly unlikely to splash the cash this month. They have money to spend after making a profit in the summer transfer window, but they cannot complete the quality of deals they would want. Their deals four years ago when they tried to replace the injured Virgil van Dijk stand as a warning against making panic buys.
They signed Ben Davies from Preston for £2million, who didn’t play a single game, and Ozan Kabak on loan from Schalke, who looked ill at ease in his few appearances before he was shipped back to Germany. Van Dijk will need replacing soon, even if he signs a new deal to stay, and he is 34 in July and cannot carry on as pillar of Liverpool’s defence forever.
