‘Go into that record’: Pundit is convinced that Liverpool’s injury problems are now worse than people think

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Former Liverpool defender Stephen Warnock believes the Reds’ injuries are a bigger problem than they first look. This might not fix itself.

Liverpool have a lot of injuries right now. Both Joel Matip and Ibrahima Konaté are out at the back, while Calvin Ramsay is yet to feature because of injury.

Midfield sees Thiago, Naby Keita, Curtis Jones and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain all out of action, too. Up top, Diogo Jota is missing after just one pre-season session.

And it’s easy to look at Liverpool’s poor start to the season and see these injuries as the problem. They undoubtedly are a problem – put the full squad together and we think they beat Manchester United quite comfortably.

But as ex-Red Stephen Warnock points out, the bigger problem is that they’re not surprising.

“Yes, there are a lot of injuries. However, go into that injury record or the players injured,” he told the BBC. “Thiago, Naby Keita, Joel Matip – all injury prone.

“Matip probably played over 40 games last year but Thiago doesn’t play over 30 in his career. Keita doesn’t play over 30 in his career. You go even deeper and [Alex] Oxlade-Chamberlain – doesn’t play enough games, isn’t robust enough. Curtis Jones – inconsistent, probably doesn’t play enough as well, his injury record isn’t great.

“So when you look at it like that, who are you relying on in that group of players to come back and play the bulk of the season?”

Liverpool’s injuries

He’s absolutely on the money here. We highly doubt this will be the only time that any of these players are out this season. Maybe Konaté is the only surprising one.

Warnock is a little off with Thiago and Keita – they have played 30 games in a season consistently. Though, Thiago has only ever played 30 league games in a season once. Keita has done it just twice. Neither has managed it for Liverpool.

Matip did play 43 games last season but that’s now the most he’s managed for Liverpool and the most he’s managed full-stop since 2012. It’s also the first time the defender has played more than 35 times in a season for the Reds.

So as Warnock says, who are Liverpool relying on? Because you can easily see more problems while looking at those who are fit. Jordan Henderson is another midfielder who spends time out each season, while James Milner is 36. At the back, Joe Gomez is never too far from an injury himself.

The real problem at Liverpool, then, isn’t that players are out injured. It’s that it feels a little inevitable, given their records. It’s hard to see how the club fixes that without a new signing.