Liverpool has had plenty of injuries to contend with this season, and it is a big testament to the squad that Jürgen Klopp has built at Anfield that it has not been a bigger talking point. As soon as one player is back, another one seems to drop out.
Just as Alexis Mac Allister returned just in time to wave Wataru Endō off to the Asia Cup, Andy Robertson and Conor Bradley are back available at the same time that Trent Alexander-Arnold is now set for another spell on the sidelines. The Liverpool number 66 has aggravated a previous injury and will now miss the Carabao Cup final against Chelsea.
Klopp clarified during his press conference that while Dominik Szoboszlai could potentially be back just in time to play in the Wembley showpiece, Alexander-Arnold will be another ‘week or two’ after that. And that leaves the German with a dilemma to solve.
Even with so many injuries, Liverpool has a wealth of options at the back. And with so many games, they are going to be needed. For me, though, against Brentford and Chelsea — the two bigger games in the next week or so, being away from home and then a final at Wembley — it has to be Joe Gomez who starts.
Gomez has been exceptional over the course of the last few months. He isn’t going to be needed at center-back with Ibrahima Konaté back from suspension and Jarell Quansah another option in the middle, but he deserves a place somewhere in the team. With Robertson available again, Gomez can shift across to the right.
That is not to say that Bradley won’t get his minutes. He can start against Luton at Anfield midweek and may well come off the bench in the games on either side of that, but Gomez should be ahead of him in the pecking order. Right now, the strongest Liverpool back four is Robertson-Van Dijk-Konaté-Gomez.
