Liverpool injury issues: Reds need to sign a defender?

Facing the league leaders, on the road, and possibly all four first-choice defenders lost through injury, is not an ideal way to return to Premier League action for any team.

But it is at the bottom where the problems really accumulate. Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez will miss most of this season, while full-backs Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson were out of international matches due to fitness issues.

How serious is the injury situation for the Reds?

It is bad. Well, as bad as it can be for a team that is champion and still one point behind leading Leicester.

Klopp has been without Van Dijk from the center half damaged anterior cruciate ligaments (ACL) when he was tackled by goalkeeper Jordan Pickford in a 2-2 Premier League draw at Everton on October 17.

Gomez has undergone surgery for a knee injury he suffered while training for England and is likely to miss a “significant part” of the rest of the season, according to his club.

Alexander-Arnold has a calf injury and missed the last England team meeting, while Scotland captain Robertson has a hamstring injury. Even midfielder Fabinho, who had replaced Van Dijk in defense, has been injured. The Brazilian is ready to return after this international break, having missed the last three games for the Reds.

Van Dijk played the 3,420 minutes of last season’s title win, while Alexander-Arnold (3,176) and Robertson (3,113) were almost always present.

Gomez started 22 of 38 Premier League games, but was clearly the first choice this season before he was injured.

Van Dijk completed more passes than anyone in the Premier League last season, while Burnley defender James Tarkowski was the only defender to win more aerial challenges. There’s a reason the Dutchman is seen as the most complete defender in the division.

Only Manchester City playmaker Kevin de Bruyne had more assists in the league than the two full-backs; his absence would be felt as intensely up front as it was on defense.

So far this season, Liverpool have kept just a clean sheet in the league and have conceded 16 goals; only Leeds and West Brom (both 17) have let more in. At the same stage last season, they had let in just six goals and had scored two clean sheets.

They have won the fewest aerial challenges (90) and made the fewest headers (36) in the league this season, but have still lost just once, the 7-2 win at Aston Villa on October 4.

What are your options?

So, with Gomez now gone, who replaces?

Cameroonian Joel Matip is the only fit senior center back at the club and will presumably start. However, he has had his own injury problems, having played only three times this season, and it is generally accepted that he cannot play three games a week.

Nat Phillips, 23, and Rhys Williams, 19, have played in recent weeks. Phillips can only play domestically as he was not registered for Europe, but excelled in his Premier League debut against West Ham October 31st.

Williams has appeared five times this season and hasn’t seemed concerned, making his Champions League debut just one year after taking the field on loan to Kidderminster in the National League North, the sixth tier of English football.

Klopp has also faced midfielders Henderson and Georginio Wijnaldum on defense, the former at the Club World Cup and the latter at Brighton.

Reserve left-back Kostas Tsimikas is yet to play a minute in the Premier League, while the ever-reliable James Milner could complete on either flank.

Who could they look to bring?

Could Liverpool make a big buy in the middle of the season? Van Dijk himself was an expensive January purchase – he moved to Anfield from Southampton. for £ 75 million at the beginning of 2018.

Having spent on striker Diogo Jota and midfielder Thiago in the summer, Klopp was content to face this season with three older center-backs and leave Dejan Lovren is leaving.

Hindsight suggests this is a rare Klopp mistake, one similar to Manchester City’s decision not to replace Vincent Kompany. when he left in 2019.

But who could the Reds look to if they made a move?

RB Leipzig’s 21-year-old defender Dayot Upamecano, who reportedly has a £ 40m release clause in his contract starting next summer, is a player who has already attracted the attention of many top clubs. of Europe. But Upamecano was shattered by Marcus Rashford when Manchester United beat Leipzig 5-0 in the Champions League on October 28.

Napoli’s Kalidou Koulibaly has repeatedly been linked to a move to the top end of the Premier League.

23-year-old Ben White of Brighton was said to be on Liverpool’s radar at the end of last season, but has been playing in midfield for the Seagulls lately.

Bringing Wolverhampton Wanderers captain Conor Coady back to the club was a recent suggestion from former Reds defender Jamie Carragher during a humorous interview on Sky Sports.

Coady was with the Reds for seven years as an academy player before making his debut in 2012 alongside Carragher, the first of two major appearances he made for the club.

His shares have risen significantly in recent months as he has established himself as part of Gareth Southgate’s England team. He has impressed Wolves since his 2018 return to the Premier League and, like Van Dijk, played every minute of the last campaign in the top flight.

But the former midfielder plays for the club and the national team in a rear and has just signed a new five-year contract.

Paste or rotate? It could depend on what the league standings look like on January 1.