Jamie Carragher singles out Liverpool new boy for criticism in Crystal Palace loss

Milos Kerkez faces scrutiny from Jamie Carragher as Liverpool twice let their lead slip in the Community Shield, ultimately losing to Crystal Palace on penalties following a 2-2 draw.

Despite goals from newcomers Hugo Ekitike and Jeremie Frimpong and a sterling display by Florian Wirtz, Arne Slot's side showed defensive frailties. Virgil van Dijk conceded a penalty slotted home by Jean-Philippe Mateta, and Ismaila Sarr exploited gaps to outwit Alisson late on.

Van Dijk's foul on Sarr followed a close save from Alisson against Mateta, who had broken away from the defence. Questions were raised about the balance of Liverpool's revamped backline, which featured £40million recruit Kerkez at left-back and £34m Frimpong on the right, by none other than Liverpool icon Jamie Carragher.

Commenting during the half-time break on X, Carragher observed: "LFC looking great going forward but susceptible defensively, as we've seen all pre-season. A lot of the goals conceded by LFC have come from going man to man really aggressively and leaving space in behind. Today Kerkez is getting dragged inside with Sarr leaving Gakpo chasing WB."

Ex-Red Steve McManaman also criticised the left-back's positioning on TNT Sports, noting: "It was Kerkez playing everybody onside," regarding the first goal by Palace. "Everybody stepped forward and the left-back was stepping backwards.

"That gave Palace the opportunity - and Palace were exploiting it a lot of the time. They were putting balls into that area, especially in the second half, almost doing it blind."

Kerkez, who was snapped up from Bournemouth during the summer window, was given the nod over Andy Robertson at left-back. Despite pulling off a key block later on, his forward-thinking approach often left gaps for Daniel Munoz and Sarr to exploit, leading McManaman to suggest Slot has work to do.

"I think the two goals today - not taking anything away from Crystal Palace - but if we're talking about Liverpool's defensive issues, they were defensive mistakes," he continued.

"There are things to work on and they will get better the more they get used to playing with each other as they are new players in a new system. But there are causes for concern because they are a bit vulnerable defensively."

Post-match, Slot voiced his own concerns regarding the defence. "We conceded two goals [today] which we [also] did against [Athletic Bilbao in pre-season]," he said to TNT Sports. "We conceded a couple more against AC Milan. That is something we need to do better.

"Last season, it was about keeping a clean sheet and attack as much as we could, and then create a few chances. Now we are able to create more.

"But we are conceding more at the moment as well. And if you want to compete to win the league, one of the main things is not conceding chances, let alone goals. I don't think we conceded a lot today but too much to win the game."