Jamie Carragher has spotted worrying Liverpool trend that will delight Premier League rivals
Liverpool were beaten on penalties by Crystal Palace in the Community Shield on Sunday.
The Reds took the lead twice through debut goals from Hugo Ekitike and Jeremie Frimpong, but were pegged back by a Jean-Philippe Mateta penalty and a late Ismaila Sarr strike.
Mohamed Salah, Alexis Mac Allister and Harvey Elliott all missed in the shootout as Liverpool lost 3-2, marking the third time in the last four attempts that the Reds have lost the Community Shield on penalties.
Arne Slot’s side were poor at Wembley, especially in the second half, as they lost control of the game, and Jamie Carragher has noticed a worrying trend.
Carragher concerned by Liverpool’s defending style
Liverpool’s downfall at Wembley was their own doing, as both goals were easily preventable due to poor defending by Virgil van Dijk, in particular.
The Reds captain has had an uncharacteristically poor pre-season, as have most of Slot’s backline, as the Premier League Champions have been leaking goals for fun in the off-season.
| Opponent | Score |
| Preston North End (A) | W 3-1 |
| Stoke City (H) | W 5-0 |
| AC Milan (N) | L 4-2 |
| Yokohama F. Marinos (A) | W 3-1 |
| Athletic Bilbao (H) – Game one | W 4-1 |
| Athletic Bilbao (H) – Game two | W 3-2 |
| Crystal Palace (N) | D 2-2 – lose 3-2 on pens |
Liverpool have only been able to keep one clean sheet in their last 12 games, in a 5-0 win over Stoke behind closed doors, in a stretch running back to April in a 1-0 win over Leicester City.
Since the arrivals of Milos Kerkez and Frimpong, the Reds have begun using a more aggressive man-marking style of defending, and Carragher has claimed on X that it is leaving space in behind.
The former Liverpool defender said: “LFC looking great going forward but susceptible defensively, as we’ve seen all pre-season.
“A lot of the goals conceded by LFC have come from going man to man really aggressively & leaving space in behind.
“Today Kerkez is getting dragged inside with Sarr leaving Gakpo chasing WB.”
- Read more: Jamie Carragher once made bold Harvey Elliott prediction at Liverpool that has now backfired
The Reds still need more signings
Liverpool have had an incredible transfer window so far, revamping both at full-back and in attack.
However, they need to continue their spending spree as this squad is nowhere near deep enough to withstand four competitions.
A centre-back signing is vital as both Ibrahima Konate and Joe Gomez are very susceptible to injury, whilst up front, there was a major hole when Ekitike was substituted, and with Darwin Nunez now gone, someone like Alexander Isak is starting to look like a necessity.
Sign up for the Liverpool News WhatsApp channel and turn on notifications to have all the latest, breaking Liverpool news sent straight to your phone.