Liverpool boss Arne Slot faces first major Anfield problem and may need to get creative

Arne Slot is facing his first real Liverpool injury crisis. The Reds have had fitness issues to deal with this term but have now, for the first time, been hit by multiple problems at once in the same area of the pitch ahead of a hectic run of fixtures.

After beating Manchester City 2-0 at Anfield on Sunday, Liverpool face a tight turnaround this week. They take on Newcastle on Wednesday night (7.30pm) before the final ever Goodison Park derby against Everton on Saturday (12.30pm).

And there are another six games to come after that before the New Year – against Girona, Fulham, Southampton (Carabao Cup), Tottenham, Leicester and West Ham.

Unfortunately for Slot, Conor Bradley and Ibrahima Konate appear unlikely to play in any games before 2025 while Kostas Tsimikas is also sidelined for an unspecified length of time.

Speaking after the win over City, Slot said: “Five defenders for four positions going into a month like this is far from ideal. These players that we have available now, it is important for them now – even more than normal – to stay fit.”

Joe Gomez replaced Konate at centre-back against City and was superb. But he is also currently, with Bradley and Tsimikas out, the second-choice right-back and left-back at the same time.

With Stefan Bajcetic, Owen Beck, Calum Scanlon, Luke Chambers and Calvin Ramsay all out on loan, it is unclear who Slot will turn to should he wish to rotate or rest Gomez, Andy Robertson or Trent Alexander-Arnold.

At centre-half, Jarell Quansah is the deputy to Van Dijk and Gomez but were any of the three to pick up a knock in the next four weeks then Liverpool would have a huge headache.

So what does the Dutchman do if any of his five fit defenders get injured in the coming days and weeks? He will have to get as creative as Jurgen Klopp did last year.

Should injury strike a centre-half down, England youth international Amara Nallo would be the main contender to step in similarly to how Bradley, Bobby Clark, James McConnell and Jayden Danns did for Klopp last term.

Nallo, 18, has been in the first-team squad for several matches but has not yet made his debut. He played in pre-season under Slot and is highly regarded after joining from West Ham in September last year.

Lee Jonas and Cody Pennington are other young centre-backs in the academy set-up and another break glass in case of emergency option might be Wataru Endo.

The Japan captain has not been fancied by the manager in midfield but has experience of dropping into the centre of defence.

The issue, though, is that at 5ft 8ins Endo is significantly smaller than Van Dijk, Konate, Gomez, Quansah and even Nallo. But it will reassure Slot that he has a player of such experience who can drop back into the backline in the very worst of circumstances.

James Norris, 21, has played more minutes than any other player for the under-21s and will hope for an outing against Southampton in the Carabao Cup at left-back if Tsimikas remains out.

He made his debut in the famous Carabao Cup loss to Aston Villa in December 2019 when the Reds were forced to field the kids.

On the right, Terence Miles, Josh Davidson and Isaac Mabaya would all be candidates for short-term promotions were Alexander-Arnold to encounter an issue while Bradley is out. Quansah came on at full-back as a substitute against Man City but is unlikely to play there regularly while Konate is out.

Curtis Jones played at right-back for Liverpool in the League Cup under Klopp last season but has been so good in midfield that Slot would surely be reluctant to copy the German even if more injuries strike.

Dominik Szoboszlai’s engine makes him a potential last-resort stand-in at full-back.

It’s clear the Dutch tactician will simply be hoping and praying for no more bad news. He’s taken every challenge in his stride until now but any more defensive injuries will ask the biggest questions yet of the 46-year-old.