Liverpool injury crisis: How will Jurgen Klopp cope with growing absentee list?
Liverpool’s 2020/21 season was derailed by a horrendous catalogue of injuries, particularly at the heart of the defence. At its worst, late in the campaign, there were two matches where Jurgen Klopp was without 10 members of his squad.
- Originally published prior to Liverpool's 2-1 defeat to Manchester United on Monday
He is in a similar position once again with the Reds manager almost able to make a workable starting XI from players who were missing from his side’s trip to Old Trafford on Monday evening.
Defensive selection
- Goalkeepers/defenders unavailable: Kelleher, Konate, Matip
- Goalkeepers/defenders not fully fit: Gomez
The injury problems at the back of the team are not too severe. Caoimhin Kelleher is out but Alisson Becker would obviously be selected between the sticks even if the Irishman were available.
The only concern is therefore at right centre-back, with both Ibrahima Konate and Joel Matip unavailable. Joe Gomez had only trained once prior to the Reds’ last match – a 1-1 draw with Crystal Palace – but Klopp said in his pre-match press conference for United that the 25-year-old “has looked great in training this week.”
Based on his record with Virgil van Dijk, there’s a strong case for the England international to be Klopp’s first choice selection when everyone is available anyway. The pair played the full match on 37 occasions in the 2018/19 and 2019/20 seasons, with Liverpool winning 29 times.
They kept 17 clean sheets and only conceded more than once inside 90 minutes in six of the games, and two of those happened after the Premier League title had been secured.
Klopp will have no concerns with selecting Gomez.
Lack of options in attack
- Forwards unavailable: Jota, Nunez
- Forwards not fully fit: Firmino
With Roberto Firmino and Diogo Jota injured, the last thing Liverpool needed was for their other main centre-forward to make himself needlessly unavailable. Thanks to Darwin Nunez’ stupidity in picking up a red card last Monday, that is exactly what happened though.
Klopp confirmed pre-match that Firmino is available for this game, though whether he is fit to start is less clear. The manager has shown in the past that he is unafraid to experiment with midfielders as false nines when needed. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain started there in the home win over Aston Villa last season, for instance. And having used Gini Wijnaldum in the centre of the front three for a Champions League semi-final match at Camp Nou, nothing can be considered off the table for the match in Manchester.
Mohamed Salah is an excellent option though. Per Understat, he has started 22 Premier League games as a central forward for Liverpool, scoring 16 non-penalty goals from 13.5 expected goals. The Egyptian has also converted four spot kicks when playing there, winning three of them himself.
Salah scored a hat-trick in the corresponding fixture last season, bagged a brace in the return game at Anfield and provided three assists across the two matches. He can undoubtedly take advantage of United’s error-prone defence.
If the Reds’ number 11 does start centrally, Harvey Elliott is an option for the spot on the right. He played there on loan with Blackburn in 2020/21 and had a very productive campaign.
But whoever starts in attack for Liverpool on Monday night, they will need to be sharper with their finishing than they were against Fulham and Crystal Palace. Infogol’s data shows the Reds amassed the most expected goals in the Premier League in the first two match weeks.
Despite topping that list and having the third best expected goal difference, Liverpool go into the weekend 12th in the table. Their form will soon turn for the better and there’d be no better place than Old Trafford for the upswing to kick into gear.
Liverpool have created more xG (4.7) in their opening two games than any other Premier League team.
— Sporting Life Football & Infogol (@InfogolApp) August 15, 2022
Fine margins.#LFC pic.twitter.com/dsjMblEW4c
Midfield conundrum
- Midfielders unavailable: Thiago, Jones, Oxlade-Chamberlain
- Midfielders not fully fit: Henderson, Keita
Klopp’s best midfield normally contains Thiago Alcantara and Fabinho. The Reds have won 25 of the 31 matches in which they’ve started together in the centre of the team, scoring 75 goals while conceding just 18.
However, the former is out with a thigh injury while the latter has looked a little off form. He was dribbled past by Eberechi Eze in the move which led to Wilfried Zaha’s goal last time out. Fabinho will start against Manchester United, but he won’t be joined by Curtis Jones or Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who are on the sidelines with Thiago. If Elliott plays as wide forward, that depletes the midfield options further, though Firmino’s availability makes that less likely.
Assuming this match is too important for Klopp to hand a first Liverpool start to Fabio Carvalho, his options to accompany Fabinho are Jordan Henderson, Naby Keita, James Milner, and Elliott.
The first two of the quartet were only fit enough for the bench against Palace, with the club captain making a 27-minute cameo. James Milner played well in that match but last started successive games in October last year.
The combination of players and potential issues in Liverpool’s midfield has been concerning many of their supporters for quite some time. The Reds entered the season with no players for the position aged between 21 and 27, with a lack of experience a slight concern at one end of the scale and injury issues often occurring for the older group.
Lots of Kopites want the club to dip into the transfer market to address their worries but is not their style to panic. Their business has been very considered for many years and they won’t buy a player purely for the sake of a few relatively short-term issues. They are far likelier to keep their powder dry this summer with an eye on trying to secure Jude Bellingham ahead of 2023/24.
However, if they don’t win at Old Trafford, the calls for action in the final 10 days of the transfer window will only grow louder. A full-strength Liverpool side firing nicely up front would be confident of securing three points but there are enough question marks hovering over the club for Klopp and the fans to be a little less self-assured on Monday evening.
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