Liverpool’s chaotic 2020/21 campaign continuously seems to jump from problem to problem as the injury headaches for Jurgen Klopp continue to intensify.
On Wednesday afternoon, Joe Gomez suffered a potentially serious injury while away on national team duty with England as per BBC Sport.
The extent of the 23-year-old’s setback is unknown although the early signs indicate that Gomez is likely going to spend a sustained period on the sidelines.
The £3.5 million signing from Charlton Athletic joins a defensive injury list that already features Virgil van Dijk, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Fabinho.
It means that Klopp is down to just Joel Matip as his only recognised and experienced central defender – a player who has played the full 90 minutes of a match for Liverpool on just two occasions in the past 12 months.
The manager does have the likes of Rhys Williams and Nat Phillips who he can call upon with both defenders impressing for Liverpool in recent weeks, however, both are still vastly inexperienced to be expected to fill such a void.
Gomez’s injury only intensifies the need for another defensive replacement in the upcoming January transfer window. It could even be argued that one addition won’t be enough for Liverpool and that sporting director Michael Edwards should be prepared to get the chequebook out in these unforseen circumstances.
Who is to blame?
Indeed, there is a case to be made as to whether Liverpool could have done more to avoid such a series of events unfolding, yet what we are seeing is something that no-one could have predicted.
In retrospect, of course, Liverpool could have looked at adding another defender to compensate for the departure of Dejan Lovren, but to have seen all four of his recognised centre-backs sustain injuries this season just could not have been predicted.
All of a sudden Liverpool are in a race against time to get to January without their form taken a detrimental hit.
Edwards undoubtedly will be meticulously orchestrating a few potential deals behind the scenes, the key for Liverpool is that a ready-made addition is handed to Klopp from the first moment the window is open.
What is clear is that Liverpool have been dealt a number of significant blows that should have been enough to totally derail their season.
However, such is the resilience of this team that they are still alive and kicking. Make no mistake, it won’t be easy, but if any team is capable of proving the doubters wrong it’s the group of players Klopp has continuously dubbed as ‘mentality monsters’.
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