Icon: enlarge
It is not known whether Jürgen Klopp asked himself at the time whether the young man could play in central defense
Photo:
MIGUEL MEDINA / AFP
Liverpool FC under coach Jürgen Klopp are running out of central defenders.
After Virgil van Dijk tore his cruciate ligament in mid-October, his colleague in the defense center, Joe Gomez, is now out for a long time with a serious knee injury.
Gomez was injured during training for the English national team on Wednesday.
Liverpool said he had to undergo surgery on his left knee on Thursday morning due to a tendon injury.
Gomez will likely be out for much of this season, it said.
Icon: enlarge
Joe Gomez in the jersey of the England national team: This picture will not be there in the coming months
Photo: Nick Potts / dpa
With Joel Matip, only one experienced central defender remains in the Liverpool squad.
In addition, Klopp still has youth players and 23-year-old Nathaniel Phillips, who was loaned to VfB Stuttgart until the summer.
In the Champions League, a 19-year-old played with Rhys Williams twice from the start.
Van Dijk was injured in the derby
Van Dijk suffered a serious knee injury in the Merseyside derby against Everton on October 17th.
Everton's goalkeeper Jordan Pickford had come out of his gate violently and jumped into the center-back's knee.
Van Dijk also had to undergo an operation, he is out for an indefinite period.
Midfielder Fabinho, who played temporarily in the defense center, is currently paused due to an injury.
On top of that, it is unclear when Trent Alexander-Arnold will be back in action with the Reds.
The right-back had to leave the pitch in the 1-1 draw in Manchester on Sunday and did not travel to the national team.
Klopp had recently been annoyed about the high load and the tight schedule in the Premier League.
Toni Kroos also joined the criticism on Wednesday, saying in his podcast that professionals were not asked and that "only the puppets of Fifa and Uefa" were.
Icon: The mirror
hba / dpa / sid