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Liverpool has been leaky at the back for much of this season, while Arsenal sets the benchmark in the Premier League for a title challenge built on a strong foundation
Liverpool has been tipped to sign an Arsenal defender to shore up Arne Slot's defense, with Stephen Warnock suggesting a change of style might be required for the Reds to take the next step.
"When I look at the defense and who Liverpool should sign, personally I think they need a center-back and a right back," former Liverpool defender Stephen Warnock told Ace Odds.
"In the right back position, they have [Jeremie] Frimpong, [Joe] Gomez and [Conor] Bradley. All three are injury-prone; they are not robust enough to play week in week out, and that is something they have to go away from.
READ MORE: Florian Wirtz's unseen work finally paying off but biggest Liverpool test still to comeREAD MORE: Late Liverpool and Antoine Semenyo transfer twist emerges despite Man City status"Liverpool has to look at how reliable their players are to play every single week, and at the moment, those players aren’t fit enough for that. That is a major issue for Liverpool at the moment.
"Liverpool are a better team when they have a proper right back in that position. It balances the team better and allows [Dominik] Szoboszlai to play in the midfield.
"So, I think signing a right back is equally as important as signing a center back at the moment.
"The issue I have with right-backs at the moment is that it always seems to be midfield players playing there, the [Pep] Guardiola style. I think you need a specialist for that right-back, which can be difficult to find in January.
"In an ideal world, I would bring in Jurrien Timber, but I don’t think Arsenal would allow that. I think he is the best right back in the league.
"I think he is brilliant. Someone of that quality who is good in one-vs-one situations. Since his ACL injury, he has shown his robustness to come back."
Timber signed for Arsenal from Ajax for a fee of around $51 million (£38 million) in 2023. He has since established himself as a key man under Mikel Arteta.
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Liverpool travels to Arsenal in the early weeks of the new year. The Reds currently trail the Gunners by 10 points in the Premier League standings approaching the halfway mark.
Liverpool.com says: While Slot could do with some more stability at the back, that shouldn't come from changing the right-back style. It needs to come from the team as a whole being balanced.
Liverpool can still have flying full-backs (Milos Kerkez and Jeremie Frimpong, for example) but that requires the structure of the team to be right. At times this season, it has been far from perfect.
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