Here are your Liverpool morning headlines for Thursday, October 29.
Defensive headache for Klopp
At a time when Liverpool are playing two matches every week, the last thing they need is numerous injuries in the same position.
Yet that is the issue facing Jurgen Klopp ahead of the Reds’ match with West Ham United on Saturday evening. Virgil van Dijk is obviously out, and Joel Matip and Fabinho currently look unlikely to be risked either.
So who should get the nod to slot in alongside Joe Gomez? There are some young inexperienced centre-backs on the clubs books, or perhaps Jordan Henderson or Gini Wijnaldum will move back from midfield?
Paul Gorst has looked at what Klopp might do in defence on Saturday, and also considers if the Liverpool manager will revert to the established 4-3-3 formation having used 4-2-3-1 recently.
Will Klopp deploy a radical solution?
If there is one crumb of comfort for Klopp regarding the club’s current injury woes in central defence, it is that he has at least dealt with this issue in the past.
Back in 2017, Dejan Lovren was the only fit centre-back for a match at Brighton, so Klopp put the Croatian in a back three with Wijnaldum and Emre Can. Liverpool won the match 5-1 too, so it clearly worked reasonably well.
Whatever Klopp chooses to do this weekend, it seems certain he will be starting the 36th difference central defensive partnership of his Anfield reign. And there’s one duo at the club who unbelievably aren’t one of the previous 35 pairings, as Ian Doyle explains here.
Interest in wonderkid confirmed
Every so often a teenager comes along who looks inevitably destined to reach the pinnacle of the game. One of the latest is Isak Bergmann Johannesson, a 17-year-old Icelandic midfielder.
He has apparently caught the eye of Juventus and Manchester United, so must be doing something right. And according to IFK Norrkoping chief scout Stig Torbjornsen, the Reds are definitely interested in signing Johannesson too.
“Everyone has been here for him, they are all curious. Liverpool is a club, there are 10 others as well.
"It is normal and fun for the association and Isak himself,” he told the Daily Mail.
