Liverpool’s defensive problems aren’t a secret, as Arne Slot was trying to solve the lack of depth in the summer. Marc Guehi was the target, but Crystal Palace didn’t agree to terms in the 11th hour.
The Eagles themselves were searching for a replacement, but former Brighton and Hove Albion centre-back Igor Julio said no at the last moment.
Julio ended up signing for West Ham United instead, and hence Oliver Glasner blocked Guehi’s move to Anfield. The Reds had sold Jarell Quansah and were left with only four centre-backs, one being an understudy.
Slot bought Giovanni Leoni from Parma so that he’d fill in Virgil van Dijk’s shoes in the future. However, the Italian recently picked up an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury against Southampton, pushing him out for a year.
Now with only three defenders, Slot was already careful, but Ibrahima Konate is now in the same boat as the Frenchman was subbed off in the 56th minute against Chelsea.
Ibrahima Konate injury sets off alarms for Arne Slot
Liverpool will rely on only two centre-backs to hold the line after Ibrahima Konate’s injury (Credits: Imago Images)
Konate went down with a quad problem against the Blues, as the severity isn’t confirmed yet. Slot talked about it after the game, and the Dutchman might not be in the best of positions right now.
“I don’t know if it is a big injury, but what I do know is he limped a little bit, and when I asked him, he said he felt his quad a little bit.”
“Then, for me, all alarm bells go off because in another sprint you never know if that is going to go good”, Slot told the press. Nevertheless, the Dutchman was already planning for a substitute for tactical reasons.
“It was also already a substitution I had in mind, maybe for a few minutes or a little bit later, because the right centre-back had a lot of ball possession and we needed to create from that position. We all know Ryan is quite good in that.”
Quiz: Can you name the team Liverpool sold these players to?
Slot only left with two centre-backs
The Dutchman was happy to take Konate off as he didn’t want any long-term problems. “It might be OK that he went off early enough, but it was clear I had to take him off because he was limping.”
However, things are only getting worse for the former Feyenoord manager. Three losses in a row were topped off with two centre-back injuries.
Slot had claimed that he would be prudent in January. However, it looks like the time has come to seriously start planning for the new year.
