By Gabriel Agbonlahor

28th Oct, 2023 | 6:00am

Liverpool told to sign two new defenders in January after crushing news - Agbonlahor

Gabby Agbonlahor has insisted “teams will target” Liverpool stand-in Kostas Tsimikas with Andy Robertson ruled out for an extended period.

The former Aston Villa striker, speaking exclusively to Football Insider, insisted the Reds should address their sub-par full-back cover on both sides in the January window.

Jurgen Klopp has confirmed Robertson has undergone successful surgery on a shoulder injury he sustained while playing for Scotland earlier this month.

The German could not reveal how long the left-back is expected to miss during his recovery – but it is likely to be months rather than weeks.

Tsimikas, who is the only other natural senior left-back at Liverpool, started the 2-0 win over Everton on Saturday (21 October) but was withdrawn after 62 minutes.

Klopp faced a similar conundrum during Trent Alexander-Arnold’s injury absence last month and chose to play Joe Gomez in a right-back role.

The Reds are in action against Toulouse (26 October) and Nottingham Forest (29 October) in the coming days.

When asked if Klopp will be worried about playing Tsimikas during Robertson’s absence, Agbonlahor told Football Insider’s Ewan Kingsbury: “100%. Teams will target him.

“He’s ok, but a bit erratic. He’s not great in the final third.

“A club like Liverpool, they need better backup both at right-back and left-back. Look at other clubs and the players they have available.

“I think it’s something Klopp will have to look at, maybe in January, because Robertson’s injury is devastating news for Klopp, it’s probably worse than what Liverpool are letting on”.

In other news, Arsenal could sell two stars and then beat Liverpool to midfielder.