Naby Keita missed Liverpool’s game away at Watford on Saturday. His absences are firmly a real problem now.
Keita sat the game out with a sore hip, according to Liverpoolfc.com. That would make it his seventh injury since joining the club, per Transfermarkt.
He’s barely back from his last one, in fact. Keita missed five games in January with a groin injury, only playing 13 minutes that month.
It continues Keita’s problem of never getting a consistent period in the team. His current stretch, for instance, was two starts in a row. Then another injury comes along.
His best streak of starts this season was only three, made over the Club World Cup and the 4-0 win against Leicester City.
That latter game shows why this is so frustrating. It was Liverpool’s best performance of the season and Keita was a part of that. Tellingly, it came after back-to-back starts before the game, which shows the potential for Keita at Liverpool – if the £53m man was able to play consistently.
His new injury highlights what a problem it is. Jordan Henderson is out, too, so there’s a clear place in the team for Keita. He took the captain’s place in the last two games, for one thing.
And then, just as he’s getting any momentum going, Keita picks up an injury and misses the Watford game. And he’s out at a time when Liverpool need him.
There’s a crunch game with Atletico Madrid coming up and if Henderson is out, someone needs to step up. Liverpool need their best option there but as it stands, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is the only choice. That’s good for him but not good for a side needing to find that best option.
So Keita isn’t available for the majority of the season and now he’s not available when Liverpool need him. What use is that? He can be a fine player, of course – and we feel he’s close to being integral – but if he’s not available when needed then Liverpool have to question Keita’s usefulness.
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