How big of an issue is Liverpool’s defence?

Liverpool’s defensive issues have been a recurring theme all season.

While there’s been an improvement in recent weeks, that cannot erase the chaos among the backline that has existed since August.

Injuries have certainly played their part with the likes of Virgil van Dijk, Ibrahima Konaté and Joël Matip being out at certain times during the season.

That’s resulted in a disjointed defence unable to form chemistry and has usually resulted in poor performances with many disappointing results being had.

Rumours that the club is looking to bolster the defence in the summer lead to the question, just how big of an issue is Liverpool’s defence?

The defence needs replacing

There have been several poor performances in defence for Liverpool this season with the main culprits being Trent Alexander-Arnold, Joe Gomez, and Joël Matip.

Despite Alexander-Arnold and Gomez being just 24 years old and 25 years old, that should not excuse how poor they’ve been, especially considering the experience the pair have cultivated over the last few years.

Gomez in particular has suffered from a lack of concentration in several games this season, most notably being the humiliating 5-2 home defeat to Real Madrid, where the centre-back was at fault for three of the goals conceded.

Despite signing a five-year deal last summer, the defender should not rest on his laurels as a potential new signing in the summer could seriously cause detriment for his future at Liverpool, especially if that signing is Joško Gvardiol.

It’s just been a bad season

We football fans do tend to exaggerate when things are going bad, and this could potentially be one of those times.

Aside from the aberration of the 20-21 season, Liverpool’s defence has been stellar for the last five years, usually posting one of the best defensive records in Europe regularly.

Some players just have a bad year, it happens, a year after winning the Premier League, Chelsea finished 10^th with their star player Eden Hazard scoring just four league goals.

The recent improvement, with the team claiming five consecutive clean sheets in the Premier League goes to show that when their defence is fit, i.e., Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konaté, they are as good as anybody in the league.

That’s not to say that defensive reinforcements wouldn’t go amiss in the summer, but that the cause for concern is slightly higher than it should be.