Jamie Carragher fears Liverpool title challenge could blow up in their face after recent events
Liverpool have enjoyed a strong start to the Premier League season but do face a potential risk, according to Jamie Carragher.
The Reds have won all three of their opening games, with Dominik Szoboszlai’s sensational free kick against Arsenal securing the three points at Anfield before the international break.
Liverpool will play Burnley on Sunday as they look to make it four from four, with the Dutchman facing a selection dilemma.
Alexander Isak took part in his first Liverpool training session on Wednesday, but the striker is expected to be named on the bench for the trip to Turf Moor.
Florian Wirtz could be dropped by Slot, with Jeremie Frimpong’s return set to see Szoboszlai moved back into midfield.
Jamie Carragher fears Marc Guehi consequences for Liverpool
Liverpool failed with a late move for Marc Guehi on transfer deadline day, after Crystal Palace decided to pull the plug on the deal.
The Eagles had agreed to sell the defender for £35million, but reneged after their move for Brighton centre-back Igor Julio was hijacked by West Ham.
That has left Liverpool lacking depth in the centre of defence, with just four options at Slot’s disposal.
“There’s three games in, they’ve got nine points out of nine, probably not played that well so we’d probably all say big favourites, Liverpool,” Carragher said on the Stick to Football podcast on Thursday.
“But that is the one area that could come back and blow up, I would imagine, in their face, because they haven’t really got – what Guehi was getting was giving Liverpool competition at centre-back.
“They haven’t got that. They’ve got two starters and two understudies. Joe Gomez, injury prone himself, and the young lad who’s only 18 I think, from Italy.
- Carragher is referring to 18-year-old Giovanni Leoni, who signed for Liverpool from Parma.
- The young defender is highly rated, but has just 17 Serie A appearances to his name.
“Going to be a great prospect, but you think if one of them had to play for a couple of months, it’s a big difference.”
Liverpool have taken a defensive risk
Ultimately, it were Liverpool’s actions which allowed the Guehi deal to fall apart at the last moment.
Decision-makers at Anfield could not have predicted that Palace’s deal for Igor would have collapsed, but they could have expected that completing a deal so close to the deadline could bring issues.
| In all competitions 2025/26 | Ibrahima Konate | Joe Gomez |
| Appearances | 42 | 17 |
| Games missed via injury | 8 | 28 |
Guehi’s price tag was known for many weeks before the final day of the window, and Liverpool might have been wise to look over their options and decide that an extra £10m or so would have been worth it to strengthen Slot’s options.
Instead, the Dutchman will be forced to rely on the fitness of Ibrahima Konate and Gomez – defenders who are historically prone to injury issues.
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