£446m spent - but do Liverpool lack depth?

It was a record-breaking summer for Liverpool, but do the Premier League champions lack depth after a £446m spending spree?

Arne Slot was left defending his team selection as Liverpool suffered a sixth defeat in seven games in all competitions as they crashed out of the Carabao Cup at the hands of Crystal Palace on Wednesday night.

The Dutchman opted to leave star players such as Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Hugo Ekitike out of his squad, making 10 changes to his starting XI from the previous game at Brentford and filling his bench with inexperienced youngsters. Unsurprisingly, Palace prevailed, winning 3-0 at Anfield.

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It was a decision heavily criticised, with Sky Sports pundit Jamie Redknapp saying: "It was the wrong team. He picked a team that made it really difficult for himself."

However, Slot insisted it was a necessary call. "Everybody can have [their] opinion about it but with the squad we have - maybe 15, 16 first-team players available - this is the choice I've made," he told Sky Sports afterwards, adding that the daunting run of Aston Villa, Real Madrid and Man City in Liverpool's next three games was on his mind.

So, after a blockbuster transfer window, why are Liverpool so short?

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Injuries are hurting Liverpool's light squad

Gruelling schedules mean injuries are a major factor in football but have Liverpool put themselves in a position to be able to cope?

Slot admitted his team selection against Palace was to protect a squad lacking in numbers. "We don't have such a big squad as people might tell," he said. "There was so much focus on the amount of money we spent. People all of a sudden think we have 25 players available. But we mainly have 20 players then we have four injuries."

Liverpool have not had any more injuries than any of their rivals.

They rank ninth for cumulative days lost from injuries, illnesses and suspensions this season in the Premier League, although they are joint-third in the total number of injuries this season with 18.

Instead it is who the injuries are happening to, which is the problem. Key players have suffered and there haven't always been suitable replacements.

Midfielder Ryan Gravenberch is instrumental to this Liverpool side. He has been a huge miss at times for Slot, but with no clear alternative to the Netherlands international in defensive midfield, Liverpool have struggled in his absence.

It leaves questions regarding the actual strength of the squad at Liverpool's disposal and something they may need to try and rectify come the January transfer window.

Is recruitment a problem?

Injury issues impact all teams over the course of a season - but not all teams can go out and spend £446.5m on new signings, breaking British transfer records along the way.

Liverpool uncharacteristically splashed out this summer, signing star names such as Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz. It was jaw-dropping and seemed to nail Liverpool on for back-to-back Premier League titles.

How could the English champions not be improved by bringing in this elite talent?

But it hasn't been so straightforward.

Isak's agitation to get out of Newcastle cost him vital pre-season preparation, contributing to a slow start. Niggly injuries have followed. Hugo Ekitike did hit the ground running at Liverpool - but then found himself displaced by Slot's need to get Isak up to speed.

Can they play together? We saw some evidence of that in the big win at Eintracht Frankfurt but there's no doubt Ekitike's impressive transition into the side has not been mirrored by the other new arrivals.

Wirtz, Germany's great talent, has struggled with the speed and intensity in England but, perhaps more importantly, Slot is yet to find the best way to use the diminutive playmaker. "We haven't found the answer yet," he mulled recently about Wirtz's ideal position in the Liverpool team.

Is it a system problem?

Jeremie Frimpong has looked similarly out of place at times. A player who thrived as a wing-back in Bayer Leverkusen's system has struggled to get his positioning right in Liverpool's back four, while he hasn't convinced higher up the pitch when deputising for Mohamed Salah. A problem that could have been foreseen? Perhaps.

Slot's repeated rotation of Conor Bradley, Frimpong and even midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai at right-back suggests he is far from certain of how that role should look.

Ekitike, Wirtz and Frimpong - three highly-rated signings who seem to have been brought in without a clear plan of how they would be used.

At left-back, Milos Kerkez was signed off the back of his impressive season at Bournemouth but has struggled in the Liverpool spotlight. He may say he hasn't been helped by some unusually uncertain performances by the centre-backs alongside him, with Ibrahima Konate and, more recently, Virgil van Dijk not at their best.

'Liverpool knew they needed another defender'

Let's not forget, Liverpool saw a Deadline Day move for Crystal Palace's Marc Guehi collapse.

Their desire for an extra centre-back option was clear from that bid - and further compounded when teenager Giovanni Leoni was injured. They knew they needed extra numbers in the squad, particularly in defence.

In Trent Alexander-Arnold, Jarell Quansah, Luis Diaz, Darwin Nunez, Harvey Elliott and Kostas Tsimikas, Liverpool allowed familiar first-teamers to leave this summer. Expensively acquired replacements may have stoked excitement but, in reality, they have to overcome the same challenges as any other player, whether that be fitness and sharpness or tactical compatibility.

Diogo Jota's tragic death, of course, leaves a lasting impact, not only on the pitch but on his team-mates. How his passing has affected everyone at the club is the great intangible factor in Liverpool's season, which must be kept in mind.

A defining three games for Slot?

But no doubt, Liverpool now go into a key moment in their campaign and things don't get any easier.

Just days after meekly exiting the Carabao Cup, they face vital Premier League matches against Aston Villa and Manchester City, either side of a Champions League blockbuster with Real Madrid. It's a daunting run of fixtures at the best of times, not least when you have lost six of your last seven games in all competitions.

If their miserable run of results continues, at worse, they could be 13 points behind Premier League leaders Arsenal heading into the international break.

"Liverpool have to get this right and soon," The Anfield Wrap's Neil Atkinson told Sky Sports. "This was always going to be where the season was made or broken.

"It's a massive week. Villa, Real Madrid and Man City are games of massive significance, much more so than a fourth-round Carabao Cup game against Crystal Palace. The business for Liverpool starts on Saturday."

The scrutiny ramped up on Slot when he made 10 changes against Palace on Wednesday in a bid to protect his under-fire squad from further disruption.

It was a decision labelled a "huge mistake" by former Liverpool captain Redknapp, but if Slot can now go on and mastermind positive results against Aston Villa, Real Madrid and Man City, he would be vindicated for resting his top stars in the League Cup.

If not, the noise will continue to grow and the pressure will increase further on the Dutchman.

For all the mitigating circumstances, that is a situation few could have expected when the big-money deals were being agreed in the transfer window.

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