Liverpool\u2019s first preseason under Andoni Iraola has already exposed a familiar issue: the team\u2019s back line remains a concern.<\/p>\n
There are some obvious reasons for that. Key personnel have been unavailable, but the defensive problems are not new. Last season under Arne Slot, a lack of depth and quality left Liverpool with one of the loosest defensive records in modern club history.<\/p>\n
That is why Iraola has needed help this summer. The departures of Ibrahima Konat\u00e9 and Andy Robertson increased the pressure, while the loan signing of Ronald Ara\u00fajo from Barcelona offers a partial solution. J\u00e9r\u00e9my Jacquet has also joined after a transfer agreed in January.<\/p>\n
Even so, doubts remain over the overall standard of the defensive group, and the manager faces difficult decisions before the Premier League opener away at Newcastle United.<\/p>\n
The situation on the right side is especially troubling. Conor Bradley is still out for the foreseeable future after the knee injury he suffered last January, and Joe Gomez is once again dealing with fitness problems. That leaves Liverpool with a recurring issue at right back.<\/p>\n
Ara\u00fajo should help, even if his natural role is at centre back. He has played at right back before, and his pace and power make him a viable option if Iraola does not trust the out-of-form Jeremie Frimpong or the underwhelming Calvin Ramsay.<\/p>\n
At centre back, though, Ara\u00fajo may be needed even more. Virgil van Dijk, now 35, played almost every match last season and remains hugely important, although he is not the same defender he once was. Gomez is injured too, while Giovanni Leoni is still recovering from the ACL tear suffered on his debut last September and is unlikely to play meaningful minutes before winter.<\/p>\n
That puts pressure on Jacquet, who has his own injury concerns after being out since last February with shoulder and knee problems. He is expected to feature in the final preseason match against Como next weekend, but Iraola will need to handle him carefully.<\/p>\n
Left back looks much clearer. Milos Kerkez is first choice after Robertson\u2019s exit, with Kostas Tsimikas providing backup after a disappointing loan at Roma in 2025-26.<\/p>\n
There is also no debate over the goalkeeper position. Alisson missed much of 2025-26 through injury, but remains one of the best in the world when fit and is clearly preferred to Giorgi Mamardashvili. Kerkez\u2019s rise and Van Dijk\u2019s leadership give Liverpool some structure, yet the balance of the defence still demands careful management.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Ara\u00fajo adds options, but Liverpool still face major defensive doubts before the Newcastle opener.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":18432,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[175,172],"tags":[59,178,242],"class_list":["post-18433","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-liverpool","category-epl","tag-featured","tag-friendly","tag-injury"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18433","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18433"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18433\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18432"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18433"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18433"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18433"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}