Three things learned from Liverpool’s defeat vs Crystal Palace as defensive issues laid bare

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Liverpool were beaten by Crystal Palace once again on Wednesday evening as Oliver Glasner led his men to a 3-0 victory.

The Reds put in another terrible performance, but, to be fair to them, Arne Slot did name a rather inexperienced team.

The first 40 minutes of the game felt fairly end-to-end, but, as Ismaila Sarr usually does against Liverpool, he bagged a brace, which sent his team ahead.

Although this wasn’t a Premier League match, it’s clear that this form is likely to carry over into the Reds’ next game against Aston Villa on Saturday.

With all of this in mind, here are three things spotted from the clash which should concern every Liverpool supporter.

Federico Chiesa needs to start more games for Liverpool

Although hardly any of Liverpool’s players have lived up to their usual standards this season, the Reds’ attack has been one of the worst-performing areas of their first-team squad.

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.

The Italian’s ability to bob and weave through defensive lines and hold up the ball for his wingers would allow Liverpool to have a different option up front and perhaps help turn their fortunes around.

Andy Robertson cannot be used as a centre-back for Liverpool

Alongside Liverpool’s attack, their defence hasn’t been up to scratch either.

Giovanni Leoni getting ruled out for the season hasn’t helped matters much, with Slot even resorting to starting Andy Robertson alongside Joe Gomez at centre-back.

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.

Even if it means that someone such as Wellity Lucky or Amara Nallo joins up with Liverpool’s squad for now, anything but Robertson at centre-back would be better.

Wataru Endo isn’t cut out to be Liverpool’s backup defensive midfielder anymore

Last 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.

Indeed, 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.

If Liverpool don’t look into signing a new defensive midfielder in the summer transfer window, they’ll be digging their own grave and likely end up in the same place they currently find themselves.