Liverpool 4-2 Bournemouth: Jamie Carragher says Reds must fix 'absolutely shocking' defending if they want to retain Premier League title

Jamie Carragher hit out at Liverpool's "unbelievable" and "absolutely shocking" defending in their 4-2 win over Bournemouth - saying they will not retain their Premier League title if they continue with those standards.

Liverpool won on an emotional night at Anfield thanks to late goals from Federico Chiesa and Mohamed Salah - but they were given a real scare by the Cherries as Antoine Semenyo's quickfire double cancelled out goals either side of half-time by Hugo Ekitike and Cody Gakpo.

Both of Semenyo's goals saw Liverpool caught out on the transition - with Bournemouth's second goal seeing the young forward run nearly the length of the pitch before finding the bottom corner.

Carragher also hit out at Ibrahima Konate, who he felt was responsible for poor defending for both goals.

"It is unbelievable," said Carragher on Friday Night Football after the game. "It's fantastic from Semenyo - but Liverpool have had this problem.

"How many players were ahead of the ball - maybe eight players - when they were winning 2-1? That can't happen. It's absolutely shocking at this level.

"For Semenyo to run that far and get his shot away is incredible - but where Konate is going? He had a really, really poor night tonight at centre-back."

Carragher added that Liverpool's defending has been poor during their pre-season campaign. There were similar goals conceded in the 4-2 defeat against AC Milan, while they also conceded twice against Athletic Club and Crystal Palace in the Community Shield.

The Sky Sports pundit was also critical of Liverpool's defending at Wembley - and suggested on Friday night that it is too easy for teams to cut through Arne Slot's side.

"That is not right. It's not," said Carragher. "It's only game on top of the Community Shield - but I've watched enough football in my life. This idea that everyone bombs forward, it's not for me. I don't like it.

"At no time last week in the Community Shield did I ever feel Liverpool were in control of the game. You can draw 2-2 with Palace, that can happen. But it's how easy Crystal Palace could get at Liverpool, how easy it was tonight.

"In the first half, Bournemouth should have been at least 2-0 up at one stage."

So do Liverpool now need a centre-back?

Liverpool's poor defending comes alongside the club's pursuit of a centre-back during the final weeks of the window.

The Reds secured the £26m signing of Parma centre-back Giovanni Leoni on Friday - but they have also been strongly linked with a move for Crystal Palace captain Marc Guehi.

There is also Konate's situation - with the French international entering the final year of his Liverpool contract - amid rumours linking the defender to Real Madrid next season.

But Carragher believes that any new defender would not fix Liverpool's overall problem of being too easy to attack against.

"There is definitely a problem that Arne Slot has to solve," Carragher said.

"People say they need a centre-back - a centre-back doesn't fix that. He just takes Konate's place.

"It's about the make-up of the team with two attacking full-backs and a No 10 who is more interested in getting on the ball than defending like [Dominik] Szoboszlai was last season.

"If Liverpool continue like that, I don't think they will win the league."