Liverpool are down to their last three central midfielders after another injury last night. Jurgen Klopp could turn to Trent Alexander-Arnold in a pinch.
Jordan Henderson, James Milner and Gini Wijnaldum. That is all that is left of the Liverpool midfield. After Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain left yesterday’s 5-2 victory over Roma with a knee injury the midfield is now at the barest of bones. Reports range from him being back for the beginning of the season to potentially 9 months out of action.
Now Klopp needs to thinks about emergency options. There are no current squad members with experience at the position. An injury to the remaining trio could spell disaster for the remaining games of the season.
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There are three potential candidates who could step into that role. Roberto Firmino could be brought into the middle, much line Philippe Coutinho was earlier in the season. Then either Solanke or Ings would play in the front three. However, I imagine that Klopp would rather do anything else than lose Firmino from the attacking trio against Chelsea, the second leg against Roma or a Champions League final.
Ben Woodburn has played that role sometimes for the Under-23’s. He has not seen as many minutes as expected this season despite being a regular for Wales at international level. His lack of first team experience makes him an unlikely candidate to be trusted in a big game.
That leaves Trent Alexander-Arnold as the last option. While he has never played there for the first team he only became a defender this season. For his entire youth career he was a midfielder and we have speculated before that is where he may end up in playing later in his development.
Who would you rather see as an emergency center midfielder?
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Most convincingly it would not have too much of an adverse effect on the defense; Joe Gomez could easily come in and perform like he has been for most of the season.
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Depending on the scenario I think Alexander-Arnold will be Klopp’s go to man to help the midfield in the event of injury or suspension.