‘That can stop Liverpool’ – Carragher pinpoints ‘one thing’ which could derail Reds’ title hopes
Jamie Carragher fears that one discernible frailty in Liverpool’s team could ‘stop’ them from winning the Premier League this season.
The Reds sit top of the table with half of their top-flight matches played in 2024/25, six points clear of second-placed Arsenal with a game in hand, but frustration abounded at Anfield on Sunday after a 2-2 draw against arch-rivals Manchester United, who came into the fixture in dismal form.
It was a tough evening for full-backs Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson in particular, with the former slammed by Roy Keane over his ‘schoolboy‘ defending up against Diogo Dalot.
Carragher voices concerns about full-back duo
Speaking on The Gary Neville Podcast for Sky Sports after the game, Carragher voiced his concern about the aforementioned duo, declaring that centre-back Virgil van Dijk is having to go above and beyond to cover for their apparent shortcomings.
The 46-year-old said: “Arsenal are better than Liverpool defensively. Liverpool are better going forward; they create more chances and score more goals.
“But Liverpool in the full back areas… Andy Robertson is hanging on for dear life. He’s been a legend for this club but it feels like he’s involved in a lot of goals at the minute. He just feels half a yard short. If Trent is having problems as well on the other side, that puts an awful lot of pressure on the middle two.
“Van Dijk saved Liverpool a lot today. He’s probably having to work too hard, and that’s the one thing that can stop Liverpool from winning the league, the full-back areas.”
How worried should we be about Liverpool’s apparent full-back frailties?
There aren’t many weaknesses in Arne Slot’s current Liverpool side, but the full-back areas might be the one chink in the armour for opposition teams to target.
Carragher is right in praising Robertson’s overall contribution throughout his time at Anfield, but this season the Scot has looked a pale shadow of his previous effervescent self, and he could’ve cost his team yesterday by giving away a stupid free kick in a dangerous position deep into stoppage time.
Meanwhile, Trent has been largely excellent during the campaign so far but endured a nightmare against United, with some culpability on his part for both of the visitors’ goals and minimal attacking impact to compensate for the defensive difficulties that Dalot exploited.
The duo’s statistics from Sunday don’t make for particularly great reading. As per Sofascore, they won only one of their nine duels combined, were dribbled past three times in total, found a teammate with just three of their 17 crosses and lost the ball 38 times between them.
Debate has raged as to whether Real Madrid’s pursuit of the England international had a destabilising effect on his performance yesterday or whether it was merely a bad day at the office – the definitive answer might come after his next couple of games.
Carragher’s concerns are understandable, with United highlighting a potential Achilles’ heel in the Liverpool team, but we’ve seen over the years that both Trent and Robertson are capable of so much better than what they showed over the weekend.
Let’s hope we see them revert to their usual standards during the second half of the season, as both could still be crucial to the Reds’ hopes of winning the Premier League title.
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