Arne Slot left with ENORMOUS decision to make over 'erratic' starter

Liverpool are on the ropes following two successive defeats. The Premier League champions lost last weekend in the Premier League against Crystal Palace - going down to a late Eddie Nketiah goal.

That blow was followed up by another reverse - this time in the Champions League against Galatasaray in Istanbul. Arne Slot, the Liverpool head coach, is therefore left to conduct some soul-searching in a bid to discover how to get his title winners back on track.

Despite £450m worth of spending over the summer transfer window, it doesn’t appear right now that the Reds have managed to hit the heights of their first campaign under Slot.

Not only have the new players failed to make a significant impact - perhaps Hugo Ekitike aside - some of those already on the books have dropped their level.

Liverpool stars beneath their best

Players like Alexis Mac Allister and Mohamed Salah are not quite as effective as they were last season - but perhaps the biggest question marks currently surround Ibrahima Konate.

The Frenchman, 26, has got ambitions to either earn a big-money new contract - taking him to the £200k per week mark - or else secure a lucrative free transfer to Real Madrid.

Right now, neither looks likely because he’s started the season in poor shape.

Far from the composed, title-winning giant of last season, Konate has instead been characterised by sloppy play and errors this term.

'Erratic' Konate has regressed alarmingly

And even though Liverpool only possess THREE senior fit centre-backs following Giovanni Leoni’s injury, Konate has been tipped by a club insider to be dropped.

James Pearce of the Athletic took aim at the France international following the Galatasaray defeat - remarking that the defender had “regressed alarmingly”.

He suggested that it could soon be time for Joe Gomez to come back into the lineup as Liverpool prepare for a trip to Stamford Bridge to face Chelsea on Saturday.

Insider tips Gomez to come back in

“Ibrahima Konate started the season poorly before recovering to deliver several commanding displays,” the report reads.

“But over the past week has regressed alarmingly with erratic, error-strewn performances against Palace and Galatasaray.

“His poor pass left Liverpool exposed early in the second half and led to Alisson suffering a muscle injury as he raced back to thwart Victor Osimhen.

“Slot has a big decision to make over who partners captain Virgil van Dijk.

“Summer signing Giovanni Leoni has torn his ACL, but if he chooses to drop Konate, he does have long-serving Joe Gomez to call upon.”

Konate has been at Liverpool since 2021 - joining from RB Leipzig for around £35m. It took him quite some time to reach the heights of last season and Liverpool will be hoping the stopper can get back to his best before long.

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