Liverpool Injury problems

Jürgen Klopp's problems with the Liverpool defense had started on October 17, in the Merseyside derby against Everton, when the team lost one of their main leaders on the field, Virgil van Dijk, to a knee injury. Now, things just became worse.

Liverpool released an official statement on their website confirming that full-back Joe Gomez, who was injured during a training session with the English National Team on the 11th of November, had to undergo surgery and will miss, according to them, “a significant part” of the rest of the 2020/21 season.

Even though many fans complain about him, Gomez had been the main name of Liverpool’s defense, playing with alternate partners since the injury of Van Dijk, who also had to undergo surgery on the knee ligament and should be out for another five months, at least.

Fortunately, Gomez’s injury is less severe than the one suffered by the Dutch center-back. The club didn’t reveal the length of his recovery, however, they said that the problem was likely to take him out for the rest of the current season. With that, it is probable that Liverpool remain without their main names in defense until next season.

But the problems for Liverpool don’t stop there, unfortunately. Van Dijk and Gomez were not the only ones to suffer from physical problems defending the Reds during this not so common season.

Trent Alexander-Arnold, one of the main names not only in the defensive system, as he is a right-back, but also in the attack, didn’t even join England’s National Team due to calf problems suffered during Liverpool’s last match. Apart from that, the Brazilian midfielder Fabinho, who was playing as a full-back after Virgil’s injury, was also out recovering from an injury.

Goalkeeper Alisson and defender Matip also have missed a few games this season due to injury. However, these two are already back on the pitch and available to help the Reds in the rest of the season. The only problem is, with the difficult football season due to the pandemic, they will have to be closely watched so they don’t have any new injuries.

Of course, Liverpool’s problems are not only in the defense. Honestly, the team is second in the Premier League with serious injuries, that last more than ten days, during the current season. They have already had 15 confirmed injuries. The only team that has had more injuries was Manchester City, with 16.

The injury problem has increased remarkably amid the tight schedule since last season's restart, following the three-month paralyzation due to the Coronavirus. Experts have already indicated that athletes would suffer from the load of training and matches in a shorter period of time and with shortened vacations, and the forecasts have been confirmed. In the first eight rounds of the current Premier League campaign, there has been a 16% increase in the number of injuries compared to the same period last season.

The tendency is that the problems will intensify throughout the year, and, in the case of the Premier League specifically, this should be exacerbated due to the fact that the clubs voted against the use of five subs per match,as this would give competitive advantage to the richest clubs who obviously have more options in their squads. While it is true, even smaller clubs are now suffering from injuries and worn out athletes. There is no escape.

How to solve this?

In the current situation, all they can do is try to postpone it, and in this scenario some figures are already changing their minds about the number of substitutions. Last week, for example, West Ham coach David Moyes acknowledged that he was wrong in his judgment of the measure: "While I still think it benefits the biggest rosters and the clubs with the biggest budgets, I would consider the change again."

In theory, clubs could agree to take a new vote. But, as in the previous voting, it will take 14 favorable votes to put the old new measure into practice.

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How can Liverpool solve this?

The only option Klopp has is to use different players in the defense for the next few months. Among the options, there is only one defensive player that is really experienced, and that is Joel Matip. The others are young boys, but could help the Reds, such as: Nathaniel Phillips, Rhys Williams - who already had chances even in the Champions League - and Sepp van den Berg.

Another solution would be improvising some players, like Fabinho himself, in the defensive sector. However, the Reds might search for defensive players in the market during the Winter Window in January.

Conclusion

It is a fact that Jurgen Klopp will have to figure something out in order to have chances to win back-to-back Premier Leagues. The game against Leicester played a major role in it, as the Reds went back joint top despite having a depleted squad.

Taking all Liverpool’s absences into account, the Reds still seem to be heavy favorites to win against Brighton at the weekend. It should be a good opportunity to take a look at MightyTips 1x2 betting tips, as they have a good win rate when it comes to this kind of bet.