Jamie Carragher names two players Liverpool must sign to win the Premier League

Jamie Carragher has suggested that Liverpool needs a new number 10 and another versatile defender to prevent a few injuries from derailing their title bid.

Under Jurgen Klopp last season, the Merseyside club's title aspirations crumbled in the final weeks of the season as an injury-plagued campaign took its toll on an exhausted squad. Despite being top of the table after eight games under new boss Arne Slot, there's still a long way to go.

Liverpool had a quiet summer, with Federico Chiesa joining from Juventus and a deal for Giorgi Mamardashvili agreed for 2025. Premier League clubs don't often splash out as much in January windows, but Carragher has warned his former club that a failure to do so could jeopardize any title push.

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The 46-year-old has highlighted previous January signings as proof that the right deal in the winter window can be pivotal. Virgil van Dijk was signed from Southampton in January 2018, followed by Luis Diaz from Porto four years later, both of whom remain key players under Slot.

"Dominik Szoboszlai has performed well off the ball and he brings energy to the team doing the 'dirty work' as he puts it but for all the possession he gets in good areas, he needs to be more productive in terms of his assists and goals," Carragher penned in his Daily Telegraph column. "We are yet to see if that is part of his game. For the £60m ($76m) he cost, he too often leaves me wanting more.

"It does not need to all be 'dirty' work when you have the time and space on the edge of the penalty area to find a teammate or unleash a shot. That number 10 position is one of the most coveted and is more often than not reserved for the superstar, game-changing player.

"Liverpool also need another defender. I have been saying for a few years that the club needs a multi-purpose defender on the left: someone who can cover for Andrew Robertson or play center-half without weakening the back line. Manchester City have those utility defenders in Nathan Ake and Josko Gvardiol. Arsenal's Riccardo Calafiori comes into the same category."

Liverpool will be without goalkeeper Alisson Becker for Sunday's trip to Arsenal, while Diogo Jota missed Wednesday's trip to Leipzig after picking up an injury in the victory over Chelsea. Slot has needed to be careful not to over-use his stars, and the manager was asked about the early withdrawal of Mohamed Salah in Germany.

"It's a tough fixture list that we have so," Slot told reporters. "I said before the game about Curtis Jones that he hasn't played 90 minutes yet, he only played two times 75 or 85 minutes, he is not used to playing two games so fast in a row.

"We have some injuries now so I have to take good care of the players that have played a lot and Mo is one of them and on Sunday a big game is coming up again. So, I need to use as many players as I can use for these next tough weeks and these tough months that are coming up, so that they are all prepared to play."

Liverpool.com says: Signing an extra midfield option would be no bad thing, for sure. Someone who can play all three positions in the center of the field would really add to the available depth. Bringing in another defender when Joe Gomez and Jarell Quansah are struggling for minutes would seem a little over the top until someone leaves.