Jurgen Klopp's centre-back crisis has taken another damaging blow with the news Liverpool star Joe Gomez is set for an extended spell on the sidelines.
The young defender was away on international duty with England when he suffered the blow on Wednesday afternoon, while stepping up his preparations at St George's Park for this evening's friendly with the Republic of Ireland at Wembley.
Gomez underwent successful surgery on a tendon in his left knee on Thursday and now faces a battle to play again this season.
His injury adds to Klopp's defensive crisis, with both Trent Alexander-Arnold, Fabinho and Virgil van Dijk currently sidelined - the latter facing the prospect of missing the remainder of the campaign.
No timescale has been set on Gomez’s recovery, with Liverpool not ruling out the possibility of the centre-back playing again this campaign, but it once again highlights Klopp's need to strengthen his central defensive options come the January transfer window.
Although the window opens for business in less than two months time, Liverpool still have no shortage of fixtures between now and then - a total of 11 games.
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The Reds face another eight Premier League outings before the transfer window opens for business on Saturday, January 2, including crunch clashes with the likes of Leicester City and Tottenham Hotspur.
In the Champions League, Klopp's troops face home clashes with both Ajax and Atalanta before a trip to Denmark to take on FC Midtjylland.
Gomez is now set to undergo a recovery period before taking on a rehabilitation phase.
Meanwhile, Van Dijk is not poised to return anytime soon and that means Liverpool desperately need to add to their central-defensive options with only Joel Matip as the senior man in the heart of defence.
While Fabinho can fill in at centre-back, him deputising there means Klopp is another man light in midfield, which could also cause problems, especially with Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain still out with injury.
Therefore, it is critical Klopp sources a new centre-back in the New Year when the January transfer window opens.
