Liverpool need three players to compete again, says legendary former defender

Paul Macdonald

• Updated: 20 May 2021 11:26 BST
• 2 min read

Jamie Carragher says Liverpool can become Premier League title contenders next season but insists Jurgen Klopp needs to sign three players to make that happen.

Manchester City’s 4-1 win at Anfield on Sunday left Liverpool trailing them by 10 points having played a game more than Pep Guardiola’s men. Liverpool have now lost five games this season, more than in all of last season when they won the league for the first time in 30 years.

The former defender is refusing to panic about the club’s plight and trusts Klopp to solve the problems that have arisen in recent weeks, but does admit they are lacking the required quality to catch City again.

“Initially, when Jurgen Klopp came in, Liverpool were a team who were sixth or seventh,” one-time Reds captain Carragher told Sky Sports.

“His first summer he brought in three players – Joel Matip, Georginio Wijnaldum, and Sadio Mane. That then took them into the Champions League.

“Over the next 12 months he then brought in Mohamed Salah in the summer, Virgil van Dijk in the January and Alisson on the back of the 2018 Champions League final.

“That then took them on again, to the Champions League win and the title. I think Liverpool are back at that stage where they need those three players to come in again to give them that jolt.

“I still think they will be back but they need three players. They need a centre-back, maybe he’s joined now in Ozan Kabak, they need someone to replace Wijnaldum, and they need someone in the front three.

“I’m talking about players to come into the team like Matip, Wijnaldum, and Mane did, like Salah, Van Dijk, and Alisson. That’s what Liverpool need.”

Liverpool could be set to lose Wijnaldum, who is out on contract this summer and has been linked with a move to Barcelona. Salah, meanwhile, has recently claimed to admire both the Catalan giants and Real Madrid.

The club’s crisis on the pitch runs much deeper than just one game. After making Anfield a fortress over a 68-game unbeaten run, they have now lost three home games in a row. Their top four ambitions may even be under threat if they slip up away at Leicester City on Saturday lunchtime.