2 consecutive victories in the opening rounds helped defending Premier League champions Liverpool start the new season with excitement. However, this is not necessarily the time to say they are in a perfect state, as there are still worrying signs.
After a thrilling 3-2 victory over Newcastle, coach Arne Slot's team became one of three clubs to maintain a perfect record with Arsenal and Tottenham after two rounds of the 2025-2026 Premier League.
Liverpool are currently the team with the most goals in the league with 7 goals, defeating two tough opponents Bournemouth and Newcastle. Getting 6 points from these 2 matches was not easy, and Slot has every reason to be satisfied with the start on the journey to defend the title.
However, behind those impressive numbers, Liverpool cannot be called perfect. In both matches, they let their opponents reduce the score and equalize after leading by 2 goals. Despite a favorable start, the loosness in defense made The Kop's victory fragile.
Against Bournemouth, The Kop dominated the first two-thirds of the match, before Antoine Semenyo scored a double to bring the match back to balance at Anfield. Against Newcastle, they even had a 2-goal advantage, but still let their opponent score again.
That is not the defensive appearance of a championship candidate. That is not what fans are looking forward to at the defending champion's house. The question is, is it Liverpool's time to worry? And what is the problem they need to overcome?
First of all, it is necessary to remember that these are only 2 matches, and Liverpool have won all. Their attack is strong enough to cover up the instability behind them, so there is no need to rush to be pessimistic.
But clearly, the "Red Brigade" defense has not brought peace of mind. Against Bournemouth, Liverpool raised their formation when leading 2-0, and then just through a cross-line pass, David Brooks assisted Semenyo to shorten the score.
Then, in the context of pressure, they arranged up to 8 players in the home field but still lost the ball, creating conditions for Semenyo to escape and score an equalizer.
After the match, Slot admitted that the team made some small errors in position, in which Andy Robertson "should have stood in Semenyo's place". However, he still expressed his satisfaction with the arrangement of the defense.
According to Slot, Bournemouth have only one player on the rise, while Liverpool have two central defenders, meaning they still have the advantage in terms of numbers. The Dutch coach emphasized that the main cause came from Mohamed Salah's poor pass, not the tactical problem or the position of the defenders.
Against Newcastle, Liverpool revealed another weakness. They did not have any coordination to penetrate the opponent's defense, while the home team created more clear opportunities. Worryingly, this situation occurred both before and after Anthony Gordon was sent off.
In terms of statistics, Liverpool only created 0.69 expected goals (xG), despite having an extra man for the entire second half. In contrast, Newcastle had 10 shots, reaching a total of 0.98 xG.
Notably, this was the first time since December 2001 that Liverpool conceded two goals against a Premier League opponent with just 10 men.
Liverpool have conceded four goals in just their first two games of the season. This is equivalent to 9.8% of their total goals conceded in the 2024-2025 season, but only occurred in 5.3% of their matches.
Notably, last season they only conceded 32 goals in the first 34 matches, before conceding nine more goals in the final four rounds when the championship had just been decided.
Whether Liverpool can continue to win thanks to dramatic goals in the final minutes is still a question mark. If that scenario repeats itself, it is clear that this is not a sustainable path to conquer more titles.
