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Jurgen Klopp declared himself “really happy” heading into the international break after a 1-1 draw against Manchester City at the Etihad, but injuries to Trent Alexander-Arnold and now Joe Gomez mean the Liverpool manager’s mood It may be a little sadder now
Alexander-Arnold suffered a calf problem in the second half at City and it has since been revealed that the Reds’ first-choice right-back will spend up to six weeks on the sidelines.
The 22-year-old English international could miss Liverpool’s next six games, including the remaining three games of the Champions League group stage, although Klopp and company already have one foot in the round of 16.
With that blow not enough, center back Joe Gomez has added to the deepening of the Premier League champions’ defensive crisis after sustaining a knee injury in training in England on Wednesday.
Gareth Southgate revealed Wednesday night: “I can’t tell you how bad it is because the scans haven’t been done yet. What was annoying to see is that he was in a bit of pain. There was no one around him when the injury happened. I didn’t like that item. “
He added: “We all hope it is not what it could be. But it is not a good situation. We hope and pray that it is not long term. We will just have to see.”
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And Klopp will have to juggle his options at the back as his side seeks to deal with the threat from Jamie Vardy and James Maddison in particular.
With Gomez and Van Dijk out of the game, Matip is Liverpool’s oldest midfielder and Klopp will desperately hope the Cameroonian can find the shape and form he did in 2018-19.
The 29-year-old played 14 of Liverpool’s last 16 league games of the league season, losing none and only conceding 10 goals, while also taking part in both games of the iconic European semi-final against Barcelona and achieving the full 90 minutes in the final. beat Tottenham.
In the 2019 calendar year, Matip arguably played as well as any other Liverpool player and will return the same center-back duo that held Bayern Munich to a 0-0 draw in the first leg of the round of 16. Champions League.
That should see Matip lining up as the left-side center-back with Fabinho, fresh from a hamstring injury, on the right next to him.
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As long as Gomez is out, that will be Liverpool’s center-half partnership with Nat Phillips, who will likely step in to allow Matip to rest in the league and Rhys Williams, the most likely substitute in Europe.
The 23-year-old Phillips is not on Liverpool’s Champions League squad, but did well alongside Gomez against West Ham last month, while the teenager Williams performed well alongside the Englishman against Midtyjlland and Atalanta, keeping clean sheets in both games.
Klopp explained last month: “Obviously, we still have other options like Hendo or Gini or James, or Robbo can also play central midfielder.
“They are not smaller than [Javier] Mascherano, for example, and he played quite well in that position. So yeah, we obviously still have a choice or two. “
Elsewhere in the squad, James Milner will likely play the most minutes as a right-back while Alexander-Arnold is offside, but less experienced Neco Williams should also step in on occasion, perhaps in home games when he is expected to. Liverpool dominate the ball and attack for most of 90 minutes.
With Fabinho playing center-back, Thiago Alcántara’s return from injury will be more than welcome as he can join Henderson and Wijnaldum in a midfield of three, while Diogo Jota could soon displace Roberto Firmino up in no time with the Brazilian for below his best this season. – although it is likely that Firmino will start more matches than not.
Probably Liverpool XI without Joe Gomez: Alisson; Milner, Matip, Fabinho, Robertson; Thiago, Henderson, Wijnaldum; Salah, Firmino, Mane.
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