Dejan Lovren and Joe Gomez have two games each to see who faces Manchester City. Joel Matip, the first choice, it out with an injury.
Reports on Monday evening, such as from the Guardian, suggested that Matip will miss the next four games. There’s hope he’ll be back after the international break but that’s all it is.
And so who partners Virgil van Dijk? Lovren has played the last couple, with Gomez on the bench but the crunch game with City is coming up.
That’s one that Jurgen Klopp must get right and Lovren didn’t look too good against Tottenham Hotspur. He didn’t have his positioning down, struggled to win in the air, and just didn’t exude confidence overall.
But then Gomez didn’t look great against RB Salzburg earlier in the month. He looked out of sorts for the entire game and seeing as he hasn’t started since, Klopp clearly felt that.
And so neither are playing their best stuff but one of them will have to face the champions. Fortunately, there’s a few games to help make the decision.
Lovren faced Spurs on Sunday, while Gomez will likely play against Arsenal in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday. That leaves two more games before the City clash – Aston Villa and Genk, both away.
They present an opportunity to give each of Lovren and Gomez a run-out. Klopp then has two games each for his backup players to make a choice to face City.
Fingers crossed one of them plays themselves into form. Liverpool will need everyone at their best for that crucial meeting with their rivals.
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