'Starting to worry me': Micah Richards admits he is really concerned by what he's seeing from one Liverpool

Below is a summary of the full article. Click here for the full version or go back to LFC Live.net.

Liverpool lost to the better team in Crystal Palace, and some of the individual performances were just not good enough.

This was a game that was likely to come at some stage after an unbeaten run of five games in the Premier League was undone by a late Eddie Nketiah strike from a long throw to make it 2-1.

The first half was one of the worst of the season, in which Palace took the lead through a goal from Ismaila Sarr after a poorly defended set piece and looked dominant compared to last season’s league champions.

However, Arne Slot’s changes in the second half seemed to work as his side looked much more cohesive and even got one back through Federico Chiesa, which was then cruelly cancelled out by the late winner mentioned earlier.

Photo by Tom Dulat/Getty Images

All over the pitch, it felt like Liverpool were second best, with the midfield struggling to have their usual influence, the attack was lacking for the majority of the match, and the defence was in disarray, apart from Alisson Becker.

It seemed that many of the backline’s issues centred on the performance of Ibrahima Konate, who seemed not to have his head in the game, similar to displays earlier in the season against the likes of Bournemouth.

The Frenchman’s partnership with Virgil van Dijk usually provides Slot’s side with the needed security to let the forward line perform to their very best, but at times it has not clicked as well due to his individual errors.

READ MORE: Steve Nicol doesn’t hold back on Liverpool’s Ibrahima Konate for ‘horrendous’ Crystal Palace display

MORE LIVERPOOL STORIES

Micah Richards highlighted this on Match of the Day, where the former Manchester City defender was left confused by how Konate has been playing since the beginning of the season.

During the discussion of the game, Richards explained: “Konate is starting to worry me a little bit.

Him and Van Dijk have been a good partnership, but his individual errors at this moment in time are just making the backline look a bit nervy.

“You know Liverpool always look good in defence, van Dijk always marshals the backline, but they give Palace too many opportunities for no actual reason, it was just being sloppy, and that is so unlike Liverpool.”

This was a worrying display not only because of how much it could have cost the team but also because of the injury to Giovanni Leoni, which has meant Liverpool have Joe Gomez as their only other backup centre-back.

It may be a good idea for the Dutch coach to find one of the youth players to be a backup on the bench or play one of the holding midfielders in that position during cup games as an extra option.

Konate has had a very strange start with his first two performances lacking the quality, composure, and strength that fans are used to seeing from the defender.

However, against Arsenal and Burnley, he was his usual self, putting on displays which realistically prevented many big chances from being created.

This latest display falls into the former displays, but it was arguably worse considering the amount of work Alisson had to do.

It is difficult to suggest anything else, but what is needed is for Slot to work out his best team and keep them playing consistently together so they are more of a unit, which could reduce the individual errors.

While this should be an issue solved as soon as possible, it does highlight that extra defensive reinforcements are a necessity for next season at the very least.