Jurgen Klopp has no choice but to change 25-year-old’s position and start him against West Ham

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Liverpool could really do without tomorrow’s game against West Ham United right now.

Obviously, it’s great news that we’re in the Carabao Cup quarter-finals. With Manchester City, United, Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal all out already, the Reds have a real chance of winning it, too.

But the timing of Wednesday’s game at Anfield couldn’t really be much worse for Jurgen Klopp. More specifically, it couldn’t be much worse for the manager’s options in midfield.

Alexis Mac Allister is already confirmed to be out for the game, joining Thiago Alcantara and Stefan Bajcetic on the side-line. And now, following Sunday’s bore draw with United, Ryan Gravenberch has also picked up a knock, too.

With league leaders Arsenal coming to Anfield on Saturday, Klopp can’t afford to take any unnecessary risks. But unfortunately for the manager, he doesn’t have much choice here.

For now, Liverpool have only four fit midfielders. But with Wataru Endo playing 90 minutes at the weekend and Dominik Szoboszlai badly in need of a rest, Jurgen is going to have to come up with a creative solution. Thankfully, he should have one up his sleeve.

Klopp backed into midfield corner

In all honesty, the answer isn’t actually all that creative. But nevertheless, moving Trent Alexander-Arnold into midfield to start on Wednesday would still be a first for Klopp.

The boss has lined Trent up in midfield before for Liverpool, but only in a friendly game.

We’ve never seen the 25-year-old on the team sheet as a midfielder during a competitive match. But owing to the circumstances for tomorrow night’s game, that’s surely about to end.

Klopp’s other available, senior options are Harvey Elliott and Curtis Jones. Both will probably play here.

The Reds manager could of course opt to chuck one of the kids in. James McConnell will be the prime candidate for that and the 19-year-old has done well whenever he’s got minutes in a Liverpool shirt.

But with West Ham looking good so far this season, Klopp really can’t afford to do that. A defeat at Anfield on the back of the weekend’s dismal draw would send morale into a spiral for Saturday.

As a result, we don’t see what else Jurgen can do. Endo and Szoboszlai need to be rested, £34m man Gravenberch and Mac Allister are injured. Cody Gakpo has filled in before, but with rotation needed up-front too, that doesn’t feel likely to happen here. There’s no one else. It has to be Trent.

The risk of course is that Liverpool need their vice-captain fit and ready to go for Arsenal, too. But Alexander-Arnold is desperate to play in midfield. Hopefully the decision to send him out in his favoured position tomorrow will give him all the energy he needs to keep on going.