While Brendan Rodgers was right to laud his Liverpool side for yet another expansive goalscoring show at Anfield last weekend, in the 4-3 win over his former club Swansea City, he could rightly be equally concerned by their munificent defending.
It threatens to become the Achilles heel of what must now be considered a realistic title push for the Reds – alongside fellow pacesetters Chelsea, Manchester City and Arsenal - but this particular argument has been levelled at them time and time again only for Rodgers’s side to come up with goals on each occasion to fend off the critics’ claims.
For what it’s worth, there is certainly no case of getting carried away where the Reds are concerned.
Their sole focus is to ensure a top four berth and Champions League riches it brings, but the impression continues to linger that a few defensive tweaks could be the major difference between finishing first or fourth.
Rodgers was able to welcome back Glen Johnson to the first-team fold for the visit of the Swans, but it appeared to unsettle a back four which has now failed to keep a clean sheet in any of their last four Premier League outings.
The problem facing the manager, however, is the lack of viable options in central defence, where Martin Skrtel’s shortcomings were brutally exposed by Wilfried Bony’s power and strength even if the Slovakian centre-back has said he is glad to have stayed at Liverpool this season.
So, how should the Reds line up when they visit Southampton this weekend? Squawka analyses the options on offer to Rodgers as his side look to underline their ever-burgeoning title credentials.
