Jurgen Klopp can give the youth at Liverpool the ultimate show of faith tomorrow. It would be a huge decision for the Reds boss.
Joel Matip might not face Tottenham Hotspur. So that would mean Liverpool face the league’s best attack without Virgil van Dijk, Joe Gomez or Matip.
In other words, their centre-halves.
Fabinho will play there, of course, but he isn’t actually a centre-half. He’s playing like one, yes, but we still need a bigger sample before knowing the Brazilian is a natural.
And perhaps facing Harry Kane and Son Heung-Min completes that sample. If Fabinho keeps them at bay, we can confidently say he’s a brilliant centre-half.
Because it won’t be easy for him, should Matip sit this one out. Fabinho will likely play alongside Jordan Henderson – as he did for the second half against Fulham – or a kid.
Either way, the pressure is on.
We’d like to see Jurgen Klopp go the youth route, though. And if he did, it would be an enormous show of faith.
The reasoning
Liverpool could go with Fabinho and Henderson as a defensive pairing. But neither are naturals, which seems problematic.
Especially as they wouldn’t have an elite defensive midfielder shielding them. Liverpool do have two of those, of course, but in Fabinho and Henderson.
So using Henderson as a defensive midfielder ahead of Fabinho and a youngster feels like the best solution. It should create the strongest unit.
You’d have Fabinho there, with a natural defender alongside him in what would likely be a sweeping role. Then the captain can shield that duo.
The question, then, is who would Klopp put alongside Fabinho?
The options
We’ve already seen the candidates this season: Rhys Williams, Nat Phillips, and Billy Koumetio.
We can probably rule out Koumetio. Liverpool shouldn’t throw the 18-year-old into a title fight without teaching him how to put his gloves up first.
That leaves Williams and Phillips. Two players who have looked good at times but haven’t faced this level of competition.
In truth, either works. We’d probably go for Phillips after he impressed against Brighton but Klopp makes a statement with either.
And no matter who he picks Liverpool are underdogs.
Long-term, however, it would be a show of faith in the youth team that could reap further rewards down the line.
Belief
If Klopp shows that he’s willing to trust relatively inexperienced academy players in a match like this, it will rub off on the rest.
They’ll see that they’re at a club where the manager trusts them and believes they can contribute.
Curtis Jones and Neco Williams already show that to an extent, of course. But both were fast-tracked into the first-team. They’ve known for a while that they had a future there.
That’s not the same as Nat Phillips – a player who never looked like having a serious Liverpool future. It’s an inspiring message to send everyone at the academy. Keep at it and you could get a massive chance, too.
Is that worth taking the risk in a normal situation? Of course not. But with Liverpool forced to improvise anyway – should Matip not recover – then this is a way to turn it into a real positive.
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