While Hugo Ekitike’s red has grabbed all the attention, there was a moment in Liverpool’s 2-1 League Cup victory over Southampton that would have been far more worrying for Arne Slot.
Amidst all the transfer business of Liverpool’s very busy summer, the £26million acquisition of Giovanni Leoni from Parma was one of the less-heralded deals.
The 6’5″ Italian was described as a “great coup” for Liverpool by Italian football legend Arrigo Sacchi, and for 81 minutes, the 18-year-old was one of the best players on the pitch.
Nobody had a better pass accuracy, only No.6 Wataru Endo made more defensive contributions, and the number of times he was dribbled past was a reassuring zero. The future of the centre-back spot looked rather rosy, until it wasn’t.
Leoni made a tackle late on, and as he fell to the ground, he jarred his knee. Slot said the club needed an MRI before assessing how serious it was, but there are early suggestions it is an ACL tear.
While the doctors run their tests, the player’s enforced absence has shone a spotlight on what could be a small crack in Liverpool’s impressive armour. The thermal exhaust port of the Anfield Death Star.
With Trent Alexander-Arnold leaving for Madrid and Jarrel Quansah to Bayer Leverkusen, Liverpool suddenly look very short at the back.
The regular pairing of Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate are among the best in the league, but behind them, there is a concerning lack of depth for a club that spent £420million this summer.
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Joe Gomez is the first back-up, but he looked unconvincing against Southampton, and there’s a sense that if he were a top-level Premier League centre-back, he may well have moved on by now in search of regular minutes.
The only other centre-back on Liverpool’s books is Rhys Williams, who has made just nine Premier League appearances – all in the 2020/21 season – and spent last season on loan at League Two Morecambe, who were relegated.
The result is that Liverpool’s most defining piece of transfer business could well be one that did not come off: the signing of Marc Guehi.
Liverpool were linked with the Crystal Palace skipper all summer but opted to wait, hoping for a more favourable price. The result was Guehi’s move being rejected at the last minute, leaving Liverpool without a replacement.
It was a strange strategy from an otherwise incredibly well-run club. Of course, they could not have predicted Leoni’s injury, but their depth was clearly lacking compared to their rivals.
Arsenal have Cristhian Mosquera and Piero Hincapie as back-ups to William Saliba and Gabriel. At a push, Riccardo Calafiori, Jurrien Timber and Ben White can also fill in.
Manchester City have Ruben Dias, John Stones, Nathan Ake, Abdukodir Khusanov and Josko Gvardiol, who can all play centrally. Chelsea have an abundance of players for the position, with eight options on the books who can play centre-back if needed.
It is also impossible to ignore that Van Dijk is not getting any younger. Aside from surgery to remove an appendix, his only major injury pre-Liverpool was an ankle injury that kept him out for 232 days.
Since returning from a cruciate ligament tear in 2021, he has had knee problems and a hamstring issue that have kept him out. At 34, even if his style of play does not rely heavily on sprints, these small injuries occur more frequently and if the captain picks up any knock in the next few weeks, Liverpool suddenly look very exposed.
Konate’s contract situation is also a concern. He looks set to become the latest player to join Free Transfer FC in Madrid, which may explain why he has not had the best start to the season, and that distraction could be an even bigger factor as the weeks go on.
The defensive concerns are not limited to centre-backs either. Losing Alexander-Arnold meant losing one of their main creative forces and the player who linked up best with Mohamed Salah. Salah’s relatively difficult start to the year, judged more by eyes than just numbers, has undoubtedly been related to forming a relationship with Jeremie Frimpong rather than the telepathic connection he had with Alexander-Arnold.
On the other side, Slot has seemed frustrated with Milos Kerkez, substituting him in both the 22nd and 43rd minutes already this year.
After five games Liverpool have conceded five goals this season, putting them joint ninth for the worst defences in the league, level with a Manchester City side that many have said is leaking goals. It took until the ninth gameweek last season for Liverpool to hit that same tally.
With fears that Giovanni Leoni could have suffered an ACL injury and could be out for several months, Liverpool are walking a tightrope. One knock to Konate or Van Dijk could derail this season, and no matter how much Alexander Isak or Florian Wirtz are worth, they cannot fill the gap at centre-back.
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