‘Stood out’… Nedum Onuoha says Liverpool have a 19-year-old youngster who’s really caught his eye

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As Liverpool prepare to face Chelsea in the Carabao Cup final, all the talk is of the players the Reds will be missing on Sunday.

As many as nine players could be ruled out of the Wembley showpiece, leaving Liverpool short in a few areas. But as ever, bad news for some can mean good news for others and the Reds have some exciting youngsters who can step into the breach.

Some, like Conor Bradley and Jarell Quansah, have been stealing the headlines all season. Liverpool have plenty more besides, though. And speaking to the BBC’s Planet Premier League podcast, former Manchester City defender Nedum Onuoha has highlighted Bobby Clark as one who has ‘stood out,’ as well as Bradley.

“Conor Bradley has been great to be honest,” raved the pundit. “I think seeing Alexander-Arnold drop out, that’s when we see a big issue for Liverpool overall because you have seen how good he has been for the last few years.

“But he has come in and for me he has got better and better every game to the point where he looks comfortable.

“Clark has come on as well and played well. When he really stood out to me in fact was when they were away at Arsenal in the FA Cup and Klopp was making changes and he was taking off senior players and bringing on young players to finish the game.”

Clark pushing for Liverpool role

Without injuries to key senior players, there’s often little chance for top talents to make a breakthrough into the first-team squad. That has been the way in football forever.

And as Liverpool’s bench on Wednesday against Luton Town showed, there could be a big chance coming the way of a few youngsters this weekend.

Five of Liverpool’s nine named substitutes midweek were 19 or under. Heading into a cup final, that is crazy.

The Reds are hopeful that some more senior names will be back to bump a couple of those teenagers off the roster for Sunday. But either way, some will remain.

One of those who is likely to do so is Clark. Having done really well against Arsenal in the FA Cup, the 19-year-old has since made five more appearances.

That he was the first young player Jurgen Klopp turned to against Luton spoke volumes of how he is now viewed within the club.

Having seen a late loan move blocked in January, there have been claims that Clark is seen as being ‘important’ to the squad.

Klopp himself has publicly proclaimed the midfielder to be ‘ready for the first-team’ and has backed that up with his selections.

With no midfielders seemingly ready to come back for Sunday, it could be a big day for Clark. Time to show the world that it isn’t just Bradley and Quansah who we should be excited about.