Exclusive: Don Hutchison Names One Premier League Star That Would Fix Liverpool’s Issues

Liverpool have enjoyed a positive start to life under Andoni Iraola, losing just one of his first 11 games in charge.

They have won seven of their last nine games across all competitions, and supporters are starting to see the identity wanting to be implemented by the Spaniard.

However, there are still a few concerns with the makeup of the current squad. Most notably, the absence of a true defensive midfielder has been an issue for a number of years now.

Former Liverpool midfielder Don Hutchison, speaking exclusively to Anfield Index courtesy of BetBrain, names the big hole he sees in the squad…

Liverpool Have ‘Never Replaced Fabinho’

When asked to identify the biggest issue with Liverpool’s squad, Hutchison’s answer was simple: “I don’t really think Liverpool have bought a replacement for Fabinho.”

“I think everything, whether it’s attacking or defending, seems to be Liverpool’s midfield. That’s the problem.”

“I think if you dropped someone like Moises Caicedo into Liverpool, they’d start keeping clean sheets because he would protect van Dijk and Jacquet a little bit better and stiffen that area up.

Of course Liverpool held a strong interest in Caicedo previously and was ready to spend £110m to bring the midfielder in from Brighton. However, the player rejected the move and opted to join Chelsea instead.

Hutchison does believe there’s some big positives in the squad, saying: “In terms of the personnel, I think Jacquet has had a fantastic start.”

“Virgil has better players around him, as we saw when Henderson was playing there, or Wijnaldum or Fabinho.”

“I don’t really think Liverpool have bought a replacement for Fabinho. They’ve sort of struggled ever since he went out the door.”

“Defensively, I think Liverpool are OK, but having said that, I think a stronger midfield would definitely have them keeping more clean sheets.”

Fabinho left Liverpool back in 2022, making a move to Saudi Arabia. Since then, Liverpool have deployed Wataru Endo, Alexis Mac Allister and then Ryan Gravenberch as defensive midfielders.

Gravenberch enjoyed a stellar 2024-25 season in the deeper role as Liverpool lifted the Premier League title, but since then that hole has looked bigger than ever.

Liverpool have been linked with a number of midfielders ahead of the January transfer window, with the likes of AS Monaco’s Lamine Camara and Bournemouth’s Alex Scott linked.

It’ll be interesting to see whether Liverpool move fast to rectify the issue under new sporting director Julian Ward.