Liverpool Faces Defensive Crisis Ahead of Como Friendlies

Liverpool head into their final pre-season double-header of the summer with a familiar knot in the stomach: a defensive crisis before a ball has even been kicked in the Premier League.

Andoni Iraola, preparing for his first competitive games in charge at Anfield, is already feeling the strain in the one area no manager wants to be short. Centre-back. Right now, Virgil van Dijk is the only fully fit senior specialist available.

Jacquet worry hangs over Como clash

The biggest concern is Jeremy Jacquet. The £60million signing from Rennes is still waiting to pull on a Liverpool shirt in a match.

An unspecified issue kept him out of the 3-2 defeat to Monaco and follows a shoulder problem that cut short his season in France. He has at least returned to full team training ahead of Sunday’s friendlies against Como, but Liverpool are treating him carefully.

Iraola cannot afford to gamble. Not with the Premier League opener looming. Not with his new defensive linchpin still finding his feet in a new country, a new system, a new dressing room.

So while Jacquet is listed as a doubt, the manager has already moved to shield himself from the worst-case scenario.

Araujo arrives, but gaps remain

The pressure in the market has already told. Liverpool have brought in Ronald Araujo on loan from Barcelona, a significant reinforcement and a clear sign of how seriously the club views the situation at the back.

Yet even with Araujo through the door, the depth chart is thin.

Giovanni Leoni is still on the comeback trail from the ACL injury he suffered on debut in the Carabao Cup a year ago. Joe Gomez, meanwhile, limped out of the 4-2 win over Sunderland with a muscle problem that looks set to rule him out of the start of the season, having been replaced that day by youngster Ifeanyi Ndukwe.

New recruits Ndukwe and Talla Ndiaye have both seen minutes in pre-season, as has Luke Chambers. They bring energy and promise. They do not bring 200 games of Premier League experience.

To make matters worse, Ibrahima Konate has already walked out of the door, leaving on a free at the end of his contract and joining Real Madrid. One pillar of the defence gone. Several others unavailable. And a new manager trying to knit it all together on the fly.

Midfield fitness questions pile up

It is not just the back line causing headaches.

Curtis Jones has been nursing a hip issue while speculation swirls around interest from Inter Milan. He missed the Monaco defeat but has now returned to training, giving Iraola at least a chance to assess him before the season starts.

World Cup finalists Alexis Mac Allister and Victor Munoz are back at the club, but both will be handled with care after deep runs with their national teams. Their fitness levels are being closely monitored, their workloads managed.

Conor Bradley and Hugo Ekitike are already ruled out for the longer term, with knee and Achilles injuries respectively. They will not be part of Iraola’s early plans.

The good news? Van Dijk is back. So is first-choice goalkeeper Alisson, both returning to action against Monaco. Two leaders, two reference points in a squad that has undergone change and is still feeling its way under new management.

Selection call for Iraola

Sunday brings a curious test: back-to-back games against Como at Anfield. One behind closed doors at 11.30am BST, the other a ticketed friendly at 6pm BST.

Iraola must decide whether to roll out what he considers his strongest XI, risking fatigue or aggravating knocks, or spread the minutes and lean into the academy and recent youth signings again.

The predicted line-up, on paper at least, looks strong:

Alisson; Frimpong, Jacquet, van Dijk, Kerkez; Szoboszlai, Gravenberch; Ngumouha, Wirtz, Gakpo; Isak.

But the caveats are everywhere. Jacquet, Jones, Mac Allister and Munoz are all listed as doubts. Bradley, Leoni, Ekitike, Gomez and Danns are already out.

So Iraola walks into Sunday with options at the top end of the pitch and questions at the back. He has youngsters ready to step into the gaps, eager and unscarred. He does not yet have the luxury of a settled defence.

The friendlies against Como will not define his Liverpool reign. They might, though, reveal just how fragile this squad looks before the real tests even begin.