Jamie Carragher has backed Jurgen Klopp's call for the Premier League to reintroduce five substitutions after Liverpool suffered yet another injury against Leicester City.
The Reds were already without Trent Alexander-Arnold, Virgil van Dijk, Joe Gomez and Thiago Alcantara before Naby Keita was forced off in the second half with a hamstring problem.
Keita's time at Liverpool has been dogged by injuries but yet another muscle injury is sure to reignite Klopp's anger with the Premier League situation.
Both the Liverpool boss and Pep Guardiola launched strong objections to the decision to return to three subs for the 2020/21 season after Trent Alexander-Arnold was the latest victim of a hectic schedule in a condensed season.
With Keita taken off against Leicester too, Carragher has admitted he has changed his stance on the decision after watching the number of players suffer from muscle problems.
“It’s a big talking point now. I think Jurgen Klopp feels like he’s banging his head against a brick wall," Carragher said during co-commentary.
"You can see there, it’s the hamstring. You talk about Klopp and the five subs, I think there’s a lot more managers on board now. I think it’s maybe inevitable that it happens in the end. The EFL have gone to five subs.
"I was totally against it at the end of last season, but when you look at how many injuries there’s been in the Premier League this season - the numbers are massively up.
"People question Jurgen Klopp or Pep Guardiola not making three in one game, so why do they want five? I don’t think that’s a reason not to make five subs, I actually think it’s a reason to do five subs.
"What it shows is, it doesn’t mean the managers are gonna make five subs in every game, it’s just that when maybe, Jurgen Klopp thinks they’re out of sight from the opposition, it gives them the opportunity to maybe make two or three subs in the end.
"You saw against Man City, Jurgen only made two subs and Pep only made one because the game was in the balance. They’re not gonna make subs for the sake of it - they need to win the game.
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"It gives them the opportunity, when the game is dead, as Liverpool’s was in Atalanta, and you can make them changes in the Champions League - you then make them changes."
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