Paul Merson: If Liverpool Can Sign This Player They Can Improve Their Chances Of Winning The League

Liverpool might have had a few issues in their defence this season but they have done pretty well recently. The Reds did have clean sheets against Southampton and Sunderland but former player Paul Merson believes the Merseyside club should be looking to add more quality at the back.

Speaking to Talksport, the former defender wanted the Reds to sign one of the promising defenders from the Saints.

“If Liverpool can buy Van Dijk for £50 million in January, they will take some beating. Defensively, they aren’t going to be good enough, but if they can get Van Dijk, that nearly wins you the Premier League.”

While Van Dijk would be a great signing for any club in England, £50 million for the former Celtic defender is a ludicrous amount to pay up. The Dutch defender is certainly one of the best in the Premier League but for that amount, Liverpool could get any defender they want in the world.

The Reds do need to have some back up in the winter window as Mamadou Sakho is all set to leave the club and having just Ragnar Klavan and Lucas Leiva for the centre of the defence would not be enough.

And if Jurgen Klopp’s men are looking to win their first Premier League title they have to strengthen the defence.

A better-looking side defensively

While the Reds did struggle to keep clean sheets at the start of the season, they have done better of late thanks to blanks recorded by Sunderland and Southampton. Loris Karius has looked good in between the sticks and even the centre back pairing of Joel Matip and Dejan Lovren has looked stable for once.

The saying that the Reds have a poor defence might have made sense at the start of the season but Klopp has worked on this aspect of the team and the results are now showing. Critics will point out that Sunderland, Southampton and Manchester United all set up defensively and the defence was not tested but the Reds haven’t really conceded a lot of goals this season compared to their rivals.

Liverpool have conceded 14 goals this season in the Premier League while Arsenal have let in 13. Even Manchester City has let in 12 goals while the two best defences in the league are those of Chelsea and Tottenham.

The Reds conceded 5 goals in their first two games but now they have tightened things up at the back and surely seem set for better things, at least defensively.