Jurgen Klopp is facing a selection dilemma in attack ahead of Tuesday’s meeting with Barcelona with both Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah ruled out.
Firmino has failed to recover from the groin injury that meant he could only feature as a substitute at Camp Nou last week and kept him out of Saturday’s win at Newcastle.
Salah, meanwhile, is unavailable as a result of a concussion sustained at St James’ Park following a clash with goalkeeper Martin Dubravka.
Klopp must now consider which of his other forward options will benefit from the absence of two of his first-choice trio.
Divock Origi strengthened his case with another important late goal on Tyneside, his header sealing a 3-2 victory for the visitors.
Xherdan Shaqiri provided the free-kick assist for that goal, and will hope to earn his first start since January as a result.
Klopp’s options in attacking midfield have already been hit by the news that Naby Keita will be out for the remainder of the season with an adductor issue.
And Adam Lallana has yet to recover from the muscular injury that has kept him out since the last international break.
As such, the Liverpool manager faces another tough selection ahead of the near-impossible task of overcoming a 3-0 aggregate deficit to reach the Champions League final.
To make matters worse, dominant centre-back Virgil van Dijk trained away from the main group on Monday along with Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who recently returned from a long-term knee problem.
Predicted XI: Alisson, Alexander-Arnold, Matip, Van Dijk, Robertson, Fabinho, Henderson, Milner, Wijnaldum, Mane, Origi
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