Liverpool’s Premier League title defence is hanging by a thread.
The Reds lost 1-0 to Brighton at Anfield on Wednesday night to slip seven points behind leaders Manchester City, who also have a game in hand.
It’s been a very erratic season for Liverpool, who have now dropped 26 points from 22 games.
This was their second defeat at Anfield on the spin after Burnley recorded a shock win on Merseyside last month.
One noticeable element about the team’s form has been an apparent drop-off from full-backs in Andy Robertson and Trent Alexander Arnold.
Speaking on ESPN, Craig Burley suggested that the pair were knackered and couldn’t get up and down the pitch as efficiently as they once could, thus affecting the chances created for the front-three.
Asked how Jurgen Klopp can repair this issue, Liverpool legend Stevie Nicol offered a sobering response: “If it’s a fatigue problem, it’s not going to be fixed. There isn’t time to recover, there isn’t time to rest people. They have to get on with it. They have to find a way.”
This is pretty worrying from Nicol because if he’s right, Liverpool’s season could get so much worse.
Robertson and Alexander-Arnold bombing forward has been a massive feature in making Klopp’s side one of the most formidable attacking outfits in Europe these past three or four years.
But if Nicol is right and the Merseysiders now have to endure this level of performance from the pair over the next three months, it’s a grim prospect.
Klopp’s troops are only fourth by two points from West Ham and with the full-back problem, coupled with the fact all three of their central defenders are out for the season, things could go from bad to worse in a major way.
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