Liverpool's Thin Defense Concerns Ahead of Premier League Season

Andoni Iraola heads into the new Premier League season with a squad that looks worryingly thin in key areas, and the clock is ticking before Liverpool open away at Newcastle next weekend.

The most glaring issue is at the heart of defence. Three separate injury concerns have stripped the manager’s options back to the bare bones, leaving captain Virgil van Dijk as the only fully fit senior centre-back.

New signing Jacquet underlines the problem. The £60million defender missed the recent 3-2 defeat to Monaco with an unspecified issue and has yet to feature in pre-season. His final campaign at Rennes was cut short by a shoulder injury, and Liverpool have been careful not to rush him. The good news for Iraola is that Jacquet has returned to full training and is thrown straight in from the start against Como.

Caution still hangs over the decision. Iraola knows he cannot gamble on one player’s fitness alone, so he has already moved in the market, securing Ronald Araujo on loan from Barcelona. The Uruguay international begins the evening on the bench, a high-calibre safety net for a back line that has been creaking all summer.

The list of absentees does not end there. Giovanni Leoni remains on the comeback trail from the ACL injury he suffered on his debut a year ago. Joe Gomez, who limped off in the 4-2 win over Sunderland in the USA last month with a muscle problem, is also set to miss the start of the season after being replaced that night by youngster Ifeanyi Ndukwe.

On top of the injuries, Iraola has had to absorb a major departure. Ibrahima Konate left Liverpool on a free transfer when his contract expired and has since joined Real Madrid, stripping more experience from a defensive unit already under strain.

In midfield, Curtis Jones has been disrupted by a hip problem just as speculation continues to swirl over a possible move to Inter Milan. He missed the defeat to Monaco, returned to training this week, but is again left out of the squad for this latest outing.

There is at least some reintegration elsewhere. Victor Munoz and Alexis Mac Allister are back from their post-World Cup breaks. Both were eased in on Sunday in a 70-minute behind-closed-doors friendly against Como at the training ground, a low-key run-out that finished goalless and featured largely Liverpool’s second string.

Munoz steps a little closer to the real thing tonight. He makes the bench for the second game in succession and will be hoping Iraola turns to him for more minutes under the Anfield lights, with a season of heavy expectation already beginning to loom.