Three things learned from Liverpool's defeat vs Crystal Palace as defensive issues laid bare - opinion
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Mohamed Salah hasn’t been firing for Liverpool, and Cody Gakpo seems to hit the post more than the back of the net.Despite all of this being blatantly obvious, Federico Chiesa has been consistently left on the bench; however, after his performance against Palace, it’s hard to see how Slot can continue leaving him out.Chiesa and Rio Ngumoha were the Reds’ brightest sparks on Wednesday evening and, without them, most of Liverpool’s chances would have never seen the light of day. Andy Robertson cannot be used as a centre-back for LiverpoolAlongside Liverpool’s attack, their defence hasn’t been up to scratch either.
Although there have been occasions when the former Hull City man has played there in the past, he’s never done so for Liverpool, and after his performance against Palace it should never happen again.The defender has been one of the Premier League’s best full-backs over the last few years, and even though Milos Kerkez is now Liverpool’s first-choice, that doesn’t mean Robertson should be moved into centre-back. He’s far too attack-minded, and his passing, which is one of the best attributes of his game, can’t even be capitalised on.
Wataru Endo isn’t cut out to be Liverpool’s backup defensive midfielder anymoreLast season, Slot saw Wataru Endo as his ‘closer’ with the Japan international often being brought on to shore up the Reds’ back line. This season, things have been massively different with the former Stuttgart man being chosen to start the odd game here and there.However, as his last two Carabao Cup outings have shown, he’s clearly not cut out to be Slot’s back-up number six anymore.Photo by James Gill – Danehouse/Getty ImagesIndeed, these could just be one-off performances, but the fact that these problems have now cropped up twice will make fans start to question Endo’s future.