Liverpool are languishing eighth in the Premier League table with their title defence in tatters, but Robbie Fowler believes that the Reds can turn their season around in January
Liverpool legend Robbie Fowler has told Arne Slot that addressing two positions in the January transfer window can help save their season. The Premier League champions have started their title defence with a slump, losing five of their opening 11 games.
Slot's side are languishing in eighth place, eight points behind leaders Arsenal, as they prepare to return to action on Saturday at home to Nottingham Forest. There's still plenty to play for, with a favourable run of fixtures ahead of them over the next few weeks and January edging closer.
That'll give Liverpool the chance to bolster their squad - on top of the record £449million which they spent in the summer. The Reds largely bolstered their attack but it's on the defensive side of things where Fowler feels that they're lacking.
"I do think we need a Fabinho type sitter in that park," the former Liverpool striker, speaking to Adventure Gamers, said. "As much as there are three fabulous players in there [Alexis] Mac Allister, [Ryan] Gravenberch and [Dominik] Szoboszlai, discipline would probably be the wrong phrase here 'cause I think they can do it.
"But you need that disciplined player to sort of sit there and try and control things. At times I think Liverpool have maybe been a bit too risky with the three midfielders going forward when it's probably not on. I think they do need that little bit of stability in front of that back four."
Speaking of the back four, Fowler believes that Slot and Co. need to target a centre-half. Liverpool came agonisingly close to signing Marc Guehi for £35m on deadline day in September, only for the deal to collapse when Crystal Palace decided not to sell at the eleventh hour.
Fowler would like to see Liverpool make another bid for the 25-year-old England international, whose contract with Palace expires at the end of this season. "God forbid anything happens to Virgil van Dijk," he warned.
"If he gets injured then it puts them in a really worrying position. So I think they do need to go out and get that centre-half.
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"Obviously the link was Marc Guehi in the summer, and yes, I think he'll be a name on everyone's lips again. He's genuinely a fantastic player, and if you're a good player and you're linked with Liverpool, then I'm happy with that."
An alternative to Guehi - who's also been linked with Bayern Munich, Barcelona and Real Madrid - is Borussia Dortmund's Nico Schlotterbeck. The German, 25, has just over 18 months left on his contract and reportedly doesn't want to sign a new deal.