DEJAN LOVREN is set to miss an extended period with a “serious” injury leaving Liverpool with just two fit centre-backs for their hectic Christmas period.
The Reds have an alarmingly packed festive schedule with Premier League, Carabao Cup and Club World Cup duties to contend with.
Lovren has been ruled out with an injury leaving Liverpool with just two fit centre-backsCredit: Reuters
Now Jurgen Klopp – who signed a new contract, running until 2024, on Friday – has just Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez at his disposal.
The German boss admitted he doesn’t know how long Lovren will be out for.
But with Liverpool still competing on all fronts, including aiming to defend their Champions League crown and win their first-ever Premier league title, it is a major blow.
Klopp revealed: “He is out, muscle this time – more serious than last time. We don’t have a time-frame.”
Joel Matip is another first-team centre-back currently out of action – having not played since October 20 with a knee injury.
Now Klopp may be forced to turn to his youth ranks should either of Van Dijk or Gomez pick up a knock, or simply need to be rested, with Sepp van den Berg and Ki-Jana Hoever earning little cup experience in the past few months.
The Reds boss continued: “It’s a concern, as you can imagine. It’s not the first time we are in a situation like this.
“Last year, one game Fabinho played at centre-half, unfortunately he is out as well. It’s not too cool.
“In the moment we have two – we should take care of them, pack them in cotton wool and ask them what they want to do in training, ‘Are you ready or not?’
“Apart from that, we have to be creative; we have the kids, of course, with Ki-Jana and Sepp.
“We have defensive-minded midfielders, there are different systems where you can use different kind of defenders as well. That’s how it is.
“In the moment, I have a lot of ideas but I hope for most of them I never have to use them, to be honest.”
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp is happy to stay at the club as he signs new five-year contract
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
