Liverpool: This is the back four we want to see against West Brom
By David Gate
Center Back: Ragnar Klavan
In my mind “Raggy” is above Lovren in the Liverpool center back sweepstakes. He is not the kind of player you want going out against Man City or Barcelona. But you are not worried about him facing West Brom. Salomon Rondo and Hal Robson-Kanu are nothing to lose sleep over. You worry about Lovren whenever he plays. There is always an error coming. It’s the anticipation that kills you.
Klavan is not good enough to play lots of minutes for the club and we have to be using Gomez more in the central positions. While Gomez and Klavan would be my pairing I feel certain that Lovren will play.
There are two reason why this seems obvious to me. Firstly Klopp prefers to throw players back in the deep end after a mistake (or mistakes). They get an immediate opportunity to prove themselves and shake off the bad game. He did it for Lovren after the Spurs horror show and for Alberto Moreno after his Sevilla brain fart.
There is also Lovren’s status as Liverpool’s best aerial defender. He is by far the best header of the ball we have in our defensive unit. While I’d have no worries about Klavan and Gomez I think Klopp will trust in Lovren’s prowess in the air. I think there is also the possibility that we play three at the back as we did against Brighton.