Dejan Lovren is error-prone defender and makes one mistake every match - Mark Lawrenson

Mark Lawrenson has slammed Dejan Lovren after claiming the Liverpool defender has always one mistake every match.

After an impressive 2013/14 campaign with Southampton, the centre-back left St Mary's Stadium and completed a switch to the Merseyside club. Since joining the Reds, the 26-year-old has struggled in his debut season at Anfield.

Lovren made only 22 league starts last season and his form has seen him fall down the pecking order. Brendan Rodgers preferred Martin Skrtel and Mamadou Sakho as his first choice centre-backs.

The former defender has severely criticised the Croatian international suggesting that he is "nervous" and "error-prone".

"He [Lovren] still looks nervous. More importantly and more worryingly, though, is that he always makes a mistake during the course of a match," Lawrenson told the Liverpool Echo.

"If you're an opposition manager, you'd be telling your striker to be aware Lovren can blunder at any time and be alert to the possibility. Lovren doesn't seem to have improved much, and we've not been playing world-beaters lately."

"And that's why Brendan Rodgers probably has no choice but to go with Martin Skrtel and Mamadou Sakho as his first-choice centre-back partnership for the start of the season."

"Being as nervous and error-prone as Lovren doesn't help your team-mates, but as a defender you should always expect your partner to make a mistake – that's the way you should think when you are playing.

"The problem with Lovren is that he seems to make the simple things difficult and the difficult things quite easy," he added.

Lawrenson also raised concerns over lack of communication between the central defenders at Liverpool. He says only Kolo Toure, who has impressed in that area, is likely to struggle to get regular playing time next season.

"To be fair to Lovren, he looks like someone who needs to be cajoled through a game. He needs good communication," the Anfield legend said.

"And that's something Skrtel has never been overly great at. In many ways, the best defensive communicator we have is Kolo Toure, but he isn't going to play that often."