Liverpool Right-Back Problem Could Push Isaac Mabaya Into Andoni Iraola Plans

Liverpool have a right-back issue, and there is no point dressing it up. Two games into the season, the position already looks unstable, the depth looks thin, and the solutions look improvised.

That is why Isaac Mabaya suddenly matters.

Jeremie Frimpong is the current starter on the right of Andoni Iraola’s defence. He may improve, and there is still time for him to settle properly, but early signs suggest he is not a natural fit for what Liverpool need in that role right now. Behind him, things get messy quickly.

Conor Bradley’s recurring fitness problems have already forced Dominik Szoboszlai to fill in at right-back. That is a red flag this early in the campaign. It also feeds a familiar concern, Liverpool do not appear to have solved a weakness that was obvious last season.

Isaac Mabaya moves into the frame

Mabaya being added to Liverpool’s official Premier League squad list is not a trivial detail. It tells you he is closer to the first team than many assumed. Iraola may be more willing to look at academy options than his predecessor, and Liverpool might not have much choice anyway.

The 21-year-old right-back is now one of only eight homegrown players in the registered squad. That number says plenty about Liverpool’s squad building. It is another reminder that recruitment has left gaps, and not small ones.

Mabaya made his senior debut against Plymouth in February 2025. It did not go well. He came on for Joe Gomez after 10 minutes, never settled, and was substituted with half an hour left. Since then, his path has hardly been smooth.

A loan move to Wigan Athletic last season was supposed to help. Instead, it turned into an injury-hit spell in which he played only three times. That is not development, that is stagnation.

Andoni Iraola short on convincing options

Now fit again, Mabaya has started both Under-21 matches this season and completed 90 minutes against Leeds on Sunday. That does not make him ready by default, but it does make him available, and availability counts when a squad is already stretched.

If Frimpong were to get injured now, Ronald Araujo would probably be the first emergency fix. The problem is obvious. Araujo is also needed at centre-back, especially with Jeremy Jacquet being managed carefully. Szoboszlai can cover, but Liverpool are hardly overloaded in midfield either.

So the chain of logic is simple. One more setback, one more tweak, one more selection problem, and Mabaya is suddenly in the conversation for real.

Liverpool squad depth under pressure again

No serious club wants to be here this early in a season. Liverpool are here anyway. The right-back depth chart looks fragile, the homegrown numbers look poor, and Iraola is already juggling roles he should not need to juggle in August.

Mabaya has not looked like a breakout candidate over the past two years. That is the truth. But football does not always wait for ideal timing. Sometimes chances come because planning has failed elsewhere.

That may be exactly what is happening now at Liverpool. If Mabaya gets his opening, it will not be because everything has gone to plan. It will be because the club have run short of better answers.