Liverpool’s defensive vulnerabilities were once more laid bare in the 3-2 loss against Swansea, which left Jurgen Klopp fuming at the style of defending by the Merseyside club. The Swans had taken a 2-0 lead before Roberto Firmino brought them back level.

But a series of mistakes at the back led the bottom-placed team of the Premier League pick up an unlikely victory and questions are now being asked if the Reds can even win the Premier League.

There have been issues with the central defence partnership and these silly mistakes are costing the club big time. Klopp might be looking to bring in a world-class central defender into the team and new academy coach Steven Gerrard has an idea of who the German should target.

“Who I think we need, I would go and try and bid for van Dijk from Southampton,” Gerrard said on BT Sport.

The Liverpool legend did speak out about how the fans might not take to this suggestion to heart since the Reds have a record of signing players from Southampton in recent seasons.

“But we’ve had enough of their players so that will probably go down like a lead balloon.”

Van Dijk has been one of the best players this season in the Premier League and has been a star for the Saints since joining them from Celtic. The Dutch defender has been linked with a move away from the south coast for a number of months and Liverpool isn’t the only club tracking the defender.

Manchester United, Manchester City and Chelsea have also been in the news of looking at the defender and Southampton would be selling only to the club that bids the highest for the player.

Liverpool had signed Sadio Mane at the start of the season from the Saints and have also signed the likes of Nathaniel Clyne, Adam Lallana, Dejan Lovren and Rickie Lambert from the club.

Van Dijk certainly would be an upgrade on the likes of Dejan Lovren and Ragnar Klavan and he certainly has age on his side which can help him get better at any club he joins. The Reds certainly need to look at their defence and fix the issue fast and it has been surprising that Klopp has not worked in the winter window at all.

Liverpool’s attack has been brilliant so far and if only they can work on fixing their defence, next season could be one to cherish.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2nwpIhiJ5A