Liverpool's leaky defence isn't good enough to sustain a Premier League title challenge

In fairness to Murphy, his optimism is understandable to a degree. This season has definitely started far better than the last. Eight games into the 2022-23 Premier League campaign, Liverpool had won just two games and were sitting ninth in the table with just 10 points to their name.

One year on, they sit fourth, just three points behind surprise leaders Tottenham - despite having already visited Spurs, Chelsea, Newcastle and Brighton. They have, as even Gary Neville has admitted, "been a lot better" than most people expected.

They've only been beaten once, too, and even that was in the most controversial of circumstances in north London. Indeed, had it not been for some horrendous officiating against Spurs, Liverpool really could be both undefeated and top of the table.

Still, there's absolutely no getting away from the fact that, before the season began, Klopp would have willingly accepted a 17-point haul from such a tricky run of fixtures.

However, the doubts that surrounded Liverpool haven't suddenly dissipated. It remains abundantly clear that for all of the good work done during the summer transfer window, Klopp still hasn't solved the defensive issues that resulted in the Reds finishing fifth last season (perhaps because he didn't get the centre-back and defensive midfielder he really wanted).

Liverpool conceded, on average, 1.24 goals per game in 2022-23; this term's figure isn't much lower (1.13), and it's both telling and deeply conceding that they've managed just one clean sheet thus far, in a 3-0 win over Aston Villa that was far more competitive than the scoreline suggests.

Indeed, one of the things that sticks out about Liverpool's games so far is how close and exciting they've been. So many of their matches really could have gone either way, with the draw at Brighton a perfect case in point.

But lest anyone forget, they've also twice managed to win games with 10 men, most notably at the home of top-four rivals Newcastle, and repeatedly had to come from behind to pick up points, with Liverpool conceding the first goal in five of the eight league outings thus far.

In that sense, Klopp and his players deserve a huge amount of credit, for their respective in-game tactical tweaks and admirable fighting spirit. Whereas last season, Liverpool looked lost as they fell behind, this season they appear completely convinced of their ability to turn the game around.

And that's perfectly explicable. Liverpool boast a depth of options in attack that is arguably unmatched not just in England but across Europe. Whenever his side is struggling, Klopp usually has two of Diogo Jota, Darwin Nunez, Luis Diaz and Cody Gakpo waiting to come on - all of them have proven themselves potential game-changers since arriving at Anfield - while Mohamed Salah remains the ultimate match-winner.

However, as Alan Shearer pointed out in his column for BBC Sport, while "the Reds are exciting to watch when they come forward, we saw again in their draw with Brighton that they concede too easily - there is something missing at the back."

Honestly, it's difficult to disagree.

The two goals conceded at Brighton really were gifts. In the first instance, Virgil van Dijk put Alexis Mac Allister in all sorts of bother with a hospital pass that the Argentine also didn't react quickly enough to claim, allowing Simon Adingra to effectively pass the ball past a stranded Alisson and into an empty net.

Van Dijk acknowledged afterwards that he had played his team-mate into trouble with "a risky ball", but argued that mistakes such as this can happen when you "play out from the back". "If you get it wrong, you get punished," the Dutch defender said matter-of-factly in his interview with Sky Sports, "but the way we bounced back was a great reaction."

And there's no disputing that claim. Liverpool's fantastic reaction to falling behind really should have won them the game, particularly when one considers that, after Salah's quickfire double, Ryan Gravenberch (who otherwise impressed after coming on as a substitute) had hit the bar when it seemed easier to score.

The reason it didn't, though, was another one of those all-too-familiar defensive disasters arising from "miscommunication" within the backline that allowed Lewis Dunk to equalise as a free-kick evaded two Liverpool defenders before reaching the Brighton captain on the edge of the six-yard box.

"I think Robbo (Andy Robertson) heard a shout and he thought it was Alisson," Van Dijk explained to Sky. "It's a miscommunication and shouldn’t happen. But nobody wants to make mistakes."

The problem is, though, that Liverpool make quite a lot of mistakes in defence, thus completely undoing so much of their good work, as so painfully underlined by Joel Matip's horrendous, injury-time own goal at Tottenham.

The Cameroonian has done reasonably well after coming into the team following an injury to Ibrahima Konate, but the hope is that the Frenchman will be restored to the starting line-up after the international break given he is, at the very least, less vulnerable to pace. Of course, the mere fact that Matip has played so much points to a problem that was repeatedly flagged in the summer: Liverpool's lack of options in defence.

Klopp and the club are clearly aware of the issue, of course. A concerted effort was made to sign a centre-back during the summer - preferably one that could play on the left-hand side - but nobody arrived, and there was always the fear that Liverpool would pay a price for failing to reinforce their rearguard.

It certainly didn't come as a surprise to hear Piero Hincapie's agent claim last week that the Reds are considering making a January move for the Bayer Leverkusen ace.

There has also been talk of belatedly signing Fluminense midfielder Andre. Liverpool were keen to bring the Brazil international in during the summer, but his employers were understandably steadfast in their refusal to sell one of their most important players midway through the Brasileiro Serie A season.

Certainly, the need for a first-choice No.6 remains pressing, with no end in sight to Thiago Alcantara's ongoing injury issues and Stefan Bajcetic also struggling to return to full fitness.

The trip to Brighton appeared "made for Endo", as former Liverpool striker John Aldridge put it in his column for the Liverpool Echo, but Klopp instead opted to once again deploy Mac Allister as a central defensive midfielder - which is just not his best position.

Given the attack-minded and lightweight Harvey Elliott also surprisingly started at the Amex, the Reds once again lacked the right balance in midfield, particularly when it came to protecting a brittle back four.

Indeed, it's no coincidence that Liverpool are giving away an awful lot of fouls this season (99, in total, the fourth-worst tally in the Premier League), such is their desperation to try to get a grip on games and kill counter-attacks. But, in reality, all such misplaced aggression is doing is piling pressure on the defence.

"We gave away too many set-pieces," Klopp said on Sunday. "It's difficult to defend all of them, we defended nearly all of them but one is enough."

How Liverpool could do with a Declan Rice or a Rodri, the kind of defensive midfielder that would restore the kind of solidity in Klopp's side that they had when Fabinho was playing at the peak of his powers. In fact, watching Arsenal's meeting with Manchester City on Sunday, it was impossible not to be struck by the contrast to the Brighton-Liverpool game that preceded it.

City, shorn of the services of both Rodri, their most important player, and Kevin De Bruyne, their most creative talent, tried to dig in for a draw. Arsenal, with Jorginho dictating the tempo of the game, and Rice running free alongside him, tried to force things. The net result was a tight, tense contest that was only decided by a deflected goal at the death.

At the Amex, meanwhile, chaos reigned supreme, as two open, attacking sides duked it out in a thrilling encounter. And that's the lingering fear when it comes to Liverpool, who are excelling in excitement and guaranteeing goals this season - but at both ends of the pitch.

Right now, they really do look like the most entertaining team in the Premier League - just not its eventual winners.