Champions League: Liverpool's players could be forgiven a sense of relief at escaping Merseyside and the pain of derby humiliation, yet the subdued mood on yesterday's short flight to Holland betrayed a sense of shock.

This side is limping into the Champions League and, for all that Europe will provide a welcome distraction, concerns remain that their defence is becoming increasingly indefensible.

The world was supposed to witness a new Liverpool this season, though it is safe to assume that the plan did not involve the disintegration of a stalwart backline. A team recently renowned for its stinginess has not kept a clean sheet since the victory at Blackburn in mid-April, some 11 matches ago, with the previously miserly pairing of Jamie Carragher and Sami Hyypia suddenly looking error prone and faith in Jose Reina crumbling.

The Spaniard sported his oversized sunglasses on arrival in baking Eindhoven yesterday though, rather than trend-setting, he was most likely hiding from the public glare. In Cardiff last May, his errors against West Ham in the FA Cup final were considered an aberration after 29 clean sheets in his first season at the club.

His heroics in the penalty shoot-out offered redemption, yet a misjudgment last month against the Londoners - Bobby Zamora's cross sailing in at the near post - and a horrible error to present Andy Johnson with Everton's third on Saturday have hacked at his reputation. Defenders, once assured, are now wary.

There was support from his manager yesterday, but also a veiled warning. "If he continues to train well and play well, I'll stick with him," said Rafael Benitez. "In my first season we had a problem with Jerzy (Dudek) but we gave him 10 games. Afterwards, we had a problem with Chris Kirkland, but we gave him 10 games too. Sometimes, especially the goalkeepers, need confidence to play well."

Reina needs to re-establish last season's commanding presence and confidence to retain his place and it was notable that the goalkeeping coach, Jose Ochotorena, not always a regular on foreign trips, accompanied the team here.

"I'm not worried about the criticism," said Reina. "The start hasn't been good and I admit I've made mistakes but I have the confidence to continue as the number one for Liverpool."

"I spoke to Pepe after the Everton game but it is important not to talk too much but to work harder and try to analyse things," said Benitez. "We could be talking about Steve Finnan, Jamie Carragher or the team selection and not just Pepe (to explain the defeat to Everton)."

Benitez recognises that Liverpool's defensive instability is a team rather than individual failing. Too many goals have been shipped through the centre with the attempt to play more offensively this term serving up a soft underbelly. With that in mind, he could even consider a switch to a back three this evening. "We're not doing things properly that we previously did," said Benitez, "like playing compact and cutting out the space between the players and lines. At this moment we have a lot of gaps. Against Everton a lot of my players were not concentrating on small details."

Those minutiae will be critical this evening. PSV Eindhoven are unbeaten in their last eight Champions League group games at their Philips Stadion, a sequence that stretches back to 2003, and boast pace and menace in Edison Mendez and Jefferson Farfan.

The coach, Ronald Koeman, masterminded Benfica's elimination of Liverpool in this competition last term, prompting Benitez to spend time talking tactics with his Dutch striker Dirk Kuyt. The forward has scored three goals in two domestic matches against PSV and expects to start tonight, with Koeman having stated, vaguely provocatively, that Kuyt "offers more possibilities than Peter Crouch, who is mainly a long-ball player".

Regardless, Craig Bellamy would expect to play some part. The Welshman's omission was perhaps the most surprising of Liverpool's selections at Goodison Park, though Benitez rejected rumours of more sinister reasoning.

• Guardian Service

PSV Eindhoven v Liverpool

Philips Stadion

Kick-off - 7.45pm

On TV - RTÉ 2 & UTV