Klopp's midfield misery is only masking concerning Liverpool trend

Liverpool may be perched comfortably just behind Chelsea at the summit of the Premier League, but that could be set to change in the coming weeks.

Jurgen Klopp may have overseen a near-perfect start to the league campaign, where the Reds are the only remaining unbeaten team after 10 games, but injuries are beginning to pile up.

Naby Keita joined Thiago Alacantara, Fabinho and James Milner on the treatment table after picking up an injury this weekend.

Just as an injury crisis in defence last year derailed Liverpool's bid to retain their crown, a similar scenario in midfield is threatening to see history repeated this term.

But there are issues for Klopp and Liverpool beyond that.

Brighton's superb fightback highlighted the fact that Liverpool's defence has yet to fully recover from the trauma that decimated their campaign last year.

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Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp saw his side toss away a lead yet again on Saturday ( Image:

PETER POWELL/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)

Already this year, Liverpool have taken the lead before going on to concede twice in four separate games.

The Reds are hardly leaking goals, but they have looked shaky at the back on numerous occasions this term - even with Virgil van Dijk back.

He and Liverpool's rearguard were relentlessly bullied by Ivan Toney as Brentford fought back to clinch a 3-3 draw earlier in the season.

In addition to that game, Klopp's side have also surrendered leads against AC Milan and Atletico Madrid in the Champions League.

Although Liverpool have managed to avoid defeat in all of those games, it's unlikely they'll be able to keep that feat up if they continue to be so careless when it comes to holding onto a lead.

Klopp was far from the busiest manager in the Premier League during this summers transfer window, but ironically, the one area he did strengthen was defence.

£36million summer signing Ibrahima Konate has been slowly introduced to life in England by Klopp, who appears keen to take a slow, methodical approach when it comes to the Frenchman rather than immediately unleashing him to marshall the Reds defence alongside Van Dijk.

Liverpool players could only watch on as Brighton struck twice to snatch a point at Anfield ( Image:

Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)

More often than not this term, Klopp has actually rotated his defensive pairing, with even Van Dijk afforded a rest earlier in the season after his gruelling spell on the sidelines last year.

The German deployed a similar tactic following Van Dijk's arrival at the club back in 2018, with Joe Gomez, Joel Matip and Dejan Lovren all playing alongside the big Dutch defender before Matip nailed down a regular berth.

At 22, it's clear that Konate is seen as a long-term option for the future, and it seems illogical that he won't appear alongside Van Dijk at the back.

And it might be better for Klopp to bite the bullet and stick with them together no matter the short-term pain as the current strategy of rotation is seemingly undermining Liverpool's defensive stability.

It took Matip a fair amount of time before he established himself as Van Dijk's chief support, and it could be a similar story for Konate.

On the plus side for Klopp, with Mohamed Salah in the form of his life and Liverpool scoring goals for fun, there is a cast-iron guarantee that the goals will flow at the other end of the pitch.

As heartening as that is, it doesn't necessarily mean that the Reds will always be able to blitz their way out of similar situations if they keep throwing away leads.

It's certainly a concern for Klopp, who could be powerless to prevent the scars from last year thwarting Liverpool in their bid to belatedly regain their Premier League crown.