Liverpool were beaten 3-2 on penalties by Crystal Palace in Sunday's Community Shield following an entertaining 2-2 draw that saw the Reds take the lead twice.
Not for the first time in pre-season, Arne Slot's team were caught out defensively by their opponents, and the Premier League champions looked especially vulnerable during counterattacks.
The Merseysiders have been linked with Eagles captain Marc Guehi as well as Parma's 18-year-old starboy Giovanni Leoni as possible reinforcements at centre-half, but it remains to be seen whether a backline signing alone can solve their issues.
Hoping to retain their top-flight title in 2025-26, the Anfield club are also facing the challenge of integrating two new full-backs, as well as balancing a new-look midfield featuring record signing Florian Wirtz.
Here, Sports Mole examines Liverpool's defensive frailty in pre-season, and considers their options both internally and in the transfer market.
Crystal Palace's Marc Guehi lifts the Community Shield on August 10, 2025
Would signing Marc Guehi or Giovanni Leoni fix Liverpool's defence?
After selling Jarell Quansah to Bayer Leverkusen for a fee that could reach £35m, the Reds now only have three senior centre-backs at the club: Virgil van Dijk, Ibrahima Konate and Joe Gomez.
Wataru Endo is also considered an option at centre-half given his experience of playing there during his time in Japan, while Andrew Robertson has played there at times this summer.
Considering their threadbare options at the heart of defence, Liverpool are actively pursuing a new signing to bolster the ranks, and are said to be waiting for the opportune moment to make their move for Guehi, who has one year left on his Palace contract.
Sporting director Richard Hughes also has his sights set on a top-level prospect for the role, hoping to discover the heir to Van Dijk at a reduced price, and Leoni appears to be the frontrunner.
However, while such incomings would certainly help Slot's side in 2025-26, it is difficult to see either player ousting the captain or Konate, who have been vital to all of Liverpool's success in recent years.
The Dutchman is widely considered one of the greatest of all time in his position, while the Frenchman is one of the best pure defenders in European football at the moment, coming off of what is arguably his best campaign to date.
This means that any signing at centre-back would be unlikely to impact the Reds' first XI, and therefore not solve their current defensive problems.
Hugo Ekitike and Jeremie Frimpong of Liverpool celebrate during the Community Shield on August 10, 2025
Under Jurgen Klopp, Liverpool's attacking full-backs became a trademark, with Robertson's intensity and crossing on the left flank a constant threat, and Trent Alexander-Arnold's passing opening up opposition blocks.
The duo went on to become the two highest assisting defenders in Premier League history, helping to redefine the role of full-backs in the modern era.
However, the German manager had to pull off a fine balancing act between allowing his full-backs the freedom to attack, and remaining defensively solid.
This required his centre-backs to perform the particularly demanding role of covering out wide more often than is typical, with the likes of Joel Matip and Konate shifting across to cover for Alexander-Arnold's absence until he was able to get back into position.
With the Englishman joining Real Madrid and Robertson declining with age, Liverpool have replaced the pair this summer, bringing in Jeremie Frimpong from Leverkusen and Milos Kerkez from Bournemouth.
Slot is a known admirer of Luis Enrique's Paris Saint-Germain, and he has referenced them multiple times in press conferences since Les Parisiens knocked the Reds out of the Champions League earlier this year.
The new recruits at full-back are said to resemble PSG's Achraf Hakimi and Nuno Mendes in terms of their playstyles, though it will take some time for them to reach such heights.
That being said, the Merseysiders are naturally facing some teething problems after changing two of their back four, and it remains to be seen how they can weather the storm and allow Frimpong and Kerkez to reach their potential while still fighting on all fronts.
Florian Wirtz for Liverpool on August 4, 2025
Liverpool's new-look midfield with Florian Wirtz could make them vulnerable
Liverpool signed Wirtz for a Premier League-record fee of £116m, and he arrived at Anfield with a reputation as one of the world's best players.
However, his arrival has broken up the midfield that brought the title back to Anfield for a 20th time, with one of Ryan Gravenberch, Alexis Mac Allister or Dominik Szoboszlai set to miss out in order to accommodate the new star.
All three of the Reds' central players proved key to their success last term, as Gravenberch was tasked with recieving the ball from the backline, Mac Allister was Slot's tempo-controller, and Szoboszlai provided running power to balance the trio and cover for teammates.
In pre-season, Mac Allister was sidelined through injury, so Wirtz was most often joined in the centre of the park by Gravenberch and Szoboszlai, a combination that left the team light on duel-winners and vulnerable to counterattacks.
The most notable example of this frailty came against AC Milan in Yokohama, where I Rossoneri's passers were free to pick out Rafael Leao, who was able to single-handedly win the match against Liverpool's exposed backline.
Liverpool's Ryan Gravenberch and Dominik Szoboszlai pictured on September 17, 2024
Should Liverpool sign a specialist defensive midfielder in the 2025 summer transfer window?
Gravenberch may have won the Premier League's Young Player of the Year award for his performances at the base of Liverpool's midfield, but he was merely filling a gap in the squad, and is not a natural defensive midfielder.
The club had identified that Slot wanted a ball-playing number six in the team last year, and they came close to signing Martin Zubimendi from Real Sociedad only for the player to decide against the move at the last minute.
When it became apparent that Zubimendi would not be joining, the Reds decided against pursuing an alternative, and instead tried Gravenberch in the position due to his ability to receive the ball under pressure from the defence, turn away safely and complete simple passes.
In 2023-24, Klopp had Mac Allister starting as his number six, and while Slot moved the Argentine midfielder further forward, he still shared defensive responsibilities with Gravenberch.
Towards the latter stages of 2024-25, it became apparent that the Dutchman could be vulnerable when faced with direct, physical players, though it would be fair to say that the number of minutes he had played caught up to him.
Adam Wharton of Crystal Palace holds off Liverpool's Mohamed Salah on August 10, 2025
With this in mind, Liverpool could benefit from the addition of a specialist defensive midfielder that is capable on the ball, both to reinforce the midfield and share the load with Gravenberch.
The Merseysiders have been heavily linked with Palace's Adam Wharton in the past, but any move for the 21-year-old, who was the standout player in the Community Shield, would likely cost upwards of £80m.
As a result, such a transfer may have to wait until a future window given that the pursuit of Alexander Isak, as well as a new centre-back, could see the club's expenditure approach £450m this summer.
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