Liverpool’s backline has been tipped to enter the transfer spotlight for quite some time now amid a whole swathe of reports linking the club with left-sided centre-backs.
Despite Kostas Tsimikas limping off with a serious injury during the Reds’ 1-1 draw with Arsenal, however, the club may be better placed setting their sights further afield.
John Aldridge certainly raised a concern his old side could do with fixing, potentially with the aid of the upcoming transfer window.
“The concern for me at half-time was the lack of finishing power in the Liverpool team and we haven’t said that too often this season,” the 65-year-old wrote for the Sunday World.
“Cody Gakpo and Luis Diaz were poor in the opening 45 minutes and it needed that moment of brilliance from Salah to drag Liverpool back into the game.
“Gakpo is a great player but needs help from players around him to influence a game and I have some concerns about Diaz, who has, obviously, had a lot on his mind in recent months after his father was kidnapped back home in Colombia.
“He also had a serious injury and it looks like he has lost some of his confidence, with the drive he had to take on opponents when he first arrived at the club absent right now.”
Jurgen Klopp’s men are set to take on relegation battlers Burnley before the turn of the year.
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A case for strengthening the forward line?
Whilst gambling on the fitness of our remaining defenders is perhaps a roll of the dice too far, we’d hope that Liverpool would be considering potential solutions to their relative ineffectiveness up front.
Darwin Nunez was superb from the bench against Arsenal but it hasn’t gone unnoticed that he’s one of several forwards with a poor scoring record of late.
Luis Diaz likewise has come under fire for only registering five goals across all competitions, though it’s worth cutting him a bit of slack following the highly stressful circumstances of his father’s kidnapping.
That said, with Mo Salah set to link up with the Egyptian national team shortly for the AFCON in January, we’re not convinced our remaining options can hold down the fort in his place.
Perhaps it’s the right time to secure a long-term successor to our high-flying Egyptian King?
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