Liverpool suffered a major blow before the Crystal Palace tie as Trent Alexander Arnold is ruled out for a few more weeks. Leaders Liverpool were dealt with a major injury after Trent Alexander-Arnold was ruled out for up to a month with knee damage. The English international tweaked his ligaments against Brighton. While Joe Gomez still working his way back to fitness after a broken foot and right-back Nathaniel Clyne loaned to Bournemouth earlier this month it leaves manager Jurgen Klopp short of options.
Veteran James Milner has served that role in the past and is the favorite to end up gaining that role, Klopp’s eyebrows will be raised about him as a defender after he was sent off against the Eagles.
The first choice Central defensive stars could be Fabinho and Joel Matip could be crucial to the cause. Joe Gomez and Dejan Lovren are not fully fit. The next game is against Leicester City in the top flight of English football and the Foxes could hurt the Merseyside outfit.
Alexander-Arnold may yet struggle to be ready for the visit to West Ham United and the Anfield meeting with Bournemouth. Alexander Arnold might not need any surgery but his coming back to fitness might take a lot time than Jurgen Klopp could afford. Liverpool will be hopeful that Alexander Arnold can make his return before crucial Champions League clash against Bayern Munich.
Another crucial injury blow to Liverpool comes from the midfield as Georginio Wijnaldum took a knock on the knee at the Amex Stadium and is a serious doubt for the game against Palace at Anfield on Saturday. Doctors have suggested that his knee and will be assessed on a day-to-day basis.
18 year old Rafael Camacho made his first-team debut as a right-back in the FA Cup defeat against Premier League outfit Wolves and is likely to be on the bench again. Fellow academy player Ki-Jana also made his debut at Wolves at centre-back becoming the third-youngest player to play at 16 in the club’s history.
Well, Klopp has big time problems and with the Bayern Munich games coming up, he will want to sort them out and fast. The Reds have been suffering from a lot of injury problems in recent times, with some outlets initially suggesting that Arnold was out for a month. Though not everyone believed the news, it seems now they will know that it is the case.
The main problem for the German manager would be that Van Dijk is already suspended for the clash against the Bundesliga champions and Joe Gomez is still not fit. With that being said, some of the other defenders (Lovren and co.) are still recovering from their issues and Fabinho has been playing as a centre-back in recent times.
James Milner, another star who has been filling in at right-back got sent off in the last match against Palace, after picking up a couple of quick yellow cards. Due to this, he will not be avaialbe to play in the upcoming fixture in the league and this will another worrying sign for Klopp now.
