LASK v Liverpool FC - UEFA Champions League 2026/27 League Phase MD2
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Federico Chiesa pictured during Liverpool's Premier League match against Manchester City at Anfield
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Liverpool’s Champions League player ratings vs LASK as Bradley Barcola runs riot in Linz](https://www.rousingthekop.com/2026/10/14/liverpools-champions-league-player-ratings-vs-lask-as-reds-run-riot-in-linz/)
LASK v Liverpool FC - UEFA Champions League 2026/27 League Phase MD2
Photo by Jasmin Walter – UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images
LASK v Liverpool FC - UEFA Champions League 2026/27 League Phase MD2
Photo by Jasmin Walter – UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images
Liverpool fans display a banner that reads "All of your stars are fading away" before the Premier League 2026/27 match between Liverpool FC and Manchester City
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Brendan Rodgers
Liverpool fans display a banner reading “No legacy is so rich as honesty” above a row of trophy icons showing the club’s honours in the stands during the match during the Premier League 2026/27 match between Liverpool FC and Manchester City
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Liverpool have an easy way to move on from Florian Wirtz but they can’t do it just yet
Liverpool have an easy way to move on from Florian Wirtz but they can’t do it just yet
Credit: Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images
Man City showed Liverpool exactly which two January signings they need to make to save their season
Liverpool v Manchester City - Premier League 2026/27
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After all of the noise from Liverpool’s 3-0 defeat against Manchester City has subsided, Andoni Iraola – and the Reds supporters – should be more than a little concerned by what they saw at Anfield on Sunday.
Ironically given the selection problems they had going into the game, the performance was not necessarily the issue for Liverpool, as they more than matched City until Ryan Gravenberch’s soft sending off after an hour.
But no matter the fight in the display, it was almost comedically clear that Lewis Koumas, for example, should not be starting a game of this magnitude. The difference in those Enzo Maresca was able to call on to change the game from the bench, and those Iraola had to bring on, was night and day.
Give us your INSTANT REACTION as Liverpool lose 3-0 to Man City 😡
Not knee jerk just a feeling I had before the season. As I say, it’s far too early but it’s a prediction
Really sick of these knee jerk reactions - he's a good manager at a new club.
Don’t think Liverpool did enough with being the better team up until the red. Thought the likes of Barcola and Wirtz just didn’t impact the game which is especially concerning given how much better Liverpool were at points.
That the Liverpool squad is so light after three or four injuries is the fault of Richard Hughes and the recruitment team, who failed to equip Iraola with what he needs to make the Reds competitive this season.
Sunday’s game made it clear that Liverpool will not survive the season with what they currently have. Squad depth is arguably at an all-time low despite the huge amount of money spent, and unless they begin to rectify that in January, it is going to be a long season. They can not fix things in one window, but they can start by bringing in a right-back and a central midfielder in the winter.
Liverpool must sign a new right-back
Prior to Sunday’s game, Liverpool had not conceded in three Premier League matches, giving hope that Iraola had sorted the Reds’ long-standing defensive deficiencies. However, though Ronald Araujo has provided a temporary fix, he looked anything but the answer against City.
Antoine Semenyo and then Jeremy Doku made his life extremely difficult, while he was walking a tight-rope from a needless early yellow card. Had he not been booked while demanding a caution for Marc Guehi, Araujo would probably have taken Doku out himself later in the game, avoiding the need for Gravenberch’s challenge at all.
READ MORE: Why Jurgen Klopp was once fuming with the referee who sent Ryan Gravenberch off during Liverpool vs Man City
In a wider sense, Araujo is clearly not the answer for Liverpool in the long-term, but Jeremie Frimpong’s introduction late in the game underlined that he is not either. The Dutchman was sold far too easily by Rayan Cherki’s dummy to put City 3-0 up, and if the Reds are relying on Araujo and Frimpong then there will be more similar moments to come.
There is still no sign of Conor Bradley, who is coming up to a year out with a knee problem, and with Liverpool needing to ease him in over the second half of the season, these issues will not go away overnight. The dilemma of who to play at right-back plagued Arne Slot last season, and a failure to sort the issue for fourth consecutive transfer window will see Iraola struggle as well.
It may be difficult for Liverpool to sign the right player in the January, but even a temporary solution, such as the one they tried with Denzel Dumfries and Lutsharel Geertruida last winter, would help fix this.
No excuses for not strengthening the midfield
Another deficiency which became even more clear against City was Liverpool’s problems in central midfield. While Maresca could count on £100m+ pair Enzo Fernandez and Elliot Anderson, while bringing a top talent like Ayyoub Bouaddi off the bench, the Reds had only Trey Nyoni to turn to.
Nyoni is a very good young player and will hopefully play a lot of games for Liverpool, but this is not the way you win trophies. With Szoboszlai injured and Gravenberch off, though, there was nowhere else for Iraola to turn.
Liverpool should have signed a midfielder this summer, of that there is little question, and it has taken only six games for their problems to be laid completely bare.
Injury to Szoboszlai was always possible given the extent to which Hungary run him into the ground, and if there is even one other absentee on top of that, Liverpool are down to the dregs.
Nyoni may yet turn into a superstar when given his chance, let’s hope that he does, but even that would not fully cover Iraola. Liverpool play so many games between now and the November international break that there is a strong chance further problems will be thrown up.
Whatever happens, the Reds have made their bed until January at least, and City was the first evidence of them having to lie in it. But things have to change at the first opportunity, and whether it is Lamine Camara or somebody else, Liverpool really need bodies through the door.
Iraola could turn it around, there is plenty of time for him to do so, but unless the necessary additions are made, it feels as though Sunday was a sign of things to come for Liverpool.