Liverpool Faces Defensive Crisis Ahead of Como Test
Liverpool’s final summer tune‑up has turned into an exercise in damage limitation at centre-back.
Andoni Iraola, preparing for his first Premier League campaign in charge at Anfield, goes into Sunday’s double-header against Como with his squad already stretched in the one area no manager wants to gamble on: the heart of defence.
Jacquet race against time
Jeremy Jacquet is at the centre of it all. The £60million signing from Rennes has yet to play a minute of pre-season and missed the 3-2 defeat to Monaco with an unspecified issue.
His last campaign in France was cut short by a shoulder problem; now, just as Liverpool hoped to unleash him, they are having to wrap him in cotton wool. The positive? He is back in full team training ahead of Como’s visit. The worry? He remains a doubt, and Iraola knows he can’t afford another setback.
With the new season looming, that leaves Virgil van Dijk as the only fully fit senior centre-back. For a club with Liverpool’s ambitions, that is a thin line to walk.
Iraola moves for cover
The Spaniard has already reacted. Ronald Araujo has arrived on loan from Barcelona, a significant piece of short-term insurance in a position that has suddenly become fragile.
The rest of the picture is hardly reassuring. Giovanni Leoni is still on the long road back from the ACL injury he suffered on debut in the Carabao Cup a year ago. Joe Gomez, who had been expected to play a major role under Iraola, limped out of the 4-2 win over Sunderland with a muscle problem that is likely to rule him out of the start of the campaign.
So the kids are being pushed to the fore. Newly signed youngsters Ifeanyi Ndukwe and Talla Ndiaye have already seen pre-season minutes, as has Luke Chambers. They may be needed again on Sunday if Iraola decides the risk with Jacquet is too great.
All of this comes on top of the summer departure of Ibrahima Konate, who left on a free at the end of his contract and joined Real Madrid. One pillar of the old defence gone, another not yet ready, and a new era already being stress-tested.
Midfield knocks and World Cup fatigue
The problems are not confined to the back line. Curtis Jones has been nursing a hip issue that kept him out of the Monaco defeat, though he has now returned to training amid ongoing links with Inter Milan.
There is also a watchful eye on World Cup finalists Alexis Mac Allister and Victor Munoz. Both are back at the club after deep runs with their national teams, but their fitness will be monitored closely. Liverpool cannot afford to burn them out before the league campaign has even begun.
Conor Bradley (knee) and Hugo Ekitike (Achilles) are longer-term absentees, further trimming Iraola’s options as he tries to impose his ideas on a squad still feeling its way into a new regime.
The good news? Van Dijk returned to action against Monaco, as did first-choice goalkeeper Alisson. The spine is there; the question is how much can be built around it in time.
Strongest XI or safety first?
Sunday brings two games against Como at Anfield – one behind closed doors at 11.30am BST and a ticketed friendly at 6pm BST – and a key decision for Iraola. Does he roll out what he believes is his strongest XI, or does he continue to juggle minutes and manage risk?
A likely shape is a 4-2-3-1, with Alisson in goal; Jeremie Frimpong, Jacquet, Van Dijk and Milos Kerkez across the back; Dominik Szoboszlai and Ryan Gravenberch in the double pivot; Ngumouha, Florian Wirtz and Cody Gakpo behind Alexander Isak up front.
But that comes with caveats. Jacquet, Jones, Mac Allister and Munoz are all doubts. Bradley, Leoni, Ekitike, Gomez and Danns are already ruled out.
So Iraola stands at the edge of the new season with a clear idea of his blueprint, but a patchwork of availability. On Sunday, under the Anfield lights and in the quiet of a closed-doors run-out, he will get one last look at who he can truly trust when the real thing starts.
