Phillips or Davies: Which centre-back should Liverpool keep?

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Nat Phillips and Ben Davies are just two of seven senior centre-backs currently in the Liverpool squad.

The duo had contrasting seasons last campaign.

Phillips was brought in out of the cold to deal with the defensive injury crisis. His superb performances earned him cult hero status at Anfield, and he finished the season as the club’s first-choice centre-back.

Meanwhile, Davies was signed from Preston on January deadline day to provide another defensive option.

The 25-year-old picked up a few injuries and failed to settle in, so he never even got to play a game for the club.

It seems clear that at least one of Phillips and Davies will be sold this summer.

Virgil van Dijk, Joe Gomez and Joel Matip have returned to fitness. Ibrahima Konate has been signed from RB Leipzig.

Simply put, Phillips and Davies, along with Rhys Williams, will not get much chance to play for the club next season, assuming the four first-choice players stay fit.

Yet in our opinion, one of them should be kept on as a fifth-choice centre-back.

Rhys Williams is still a bit young to fill that role, so he should be loaned out.

But one of Phillips or Davies is certainly worth keeping around.

They are both home-grown, relatively young and capable of playing at this level.

The question is, which one should Liverpool keep?

Phillips has earned the trust but Davies more suited to Liverpool’s style

It is hard to compare the pair statistically.

Davies has never played a Premier League game, while Phillips has only started 15 times in the division.

However, we will take a quick look at Davies’ Preston numbers of last season and compare them to Phillips’ Liverpool stats of last season just as a general viewpoint.

Phillips came out on top for tackles made, clearances and blocks, while Davies made more interceptions and was dribbled past less frequently.

On the ball, Phillips made more passes per game with a higher success rate.

However, this would be because of Liverpool’s possession-dominant style. He knew his limits and always looked to play simple passes.

Davies attempted and completed more long balls and made less on-the-ball errors.

While Phillips is stronger in the air, Davies is undoubtedly better on the ball.

This leads us to believe that the 25-year-old is better suited to the club in the long-term.

The thing is, whichever of these two players stays will only play if there is another injury crisis.

So, Liverpool can afford to make a gamble on Davies.

After his settling-in period, he should be ready to make an impact.

However, the main reason that we believe that Liverpool should keep Davies and sell Phillips is sell-on value.

The Athletic report that the club want £15m to sell the Bolton-born defender this summer. He has a number of suitors, so we think that he could make this fee.

Meanwhile, Davies would earn a far lower fee.

Liverpool could badly do with cash to invest elsewhere in the squad.

Is it worth losing out on a new midfielder or forward just so we can keep a slightly-better (if even) fifth-choice defender? Absolutely not.

That is why we would put our trust in Ben Davies for 2021/22.

Let’s see if Jurgen Klopp agrees.