Klopp and his crippled team

After Jürgen Klopp the magician, Jürgen Klopp the oracle?

Among the first personalities to sound the alarm about the hellish pace across the Channel, the Liverpool technician did not think so well to say when to receive Leicester, leader before this 9th day, this Sunday (8:15 pm).

"The players are going to break," he had cracked after his team's draw at Manchester City on the eve of the international break.

Two weeks later, it is clear that he was right.

Van Dijk, Gomez, Alexander-Arnold, Thiago, Salah and Henderson are forfeited… or half eleven Liverpool holder on the flank.

“Injuries are invariably a part of the seasons, it's part of the job.

We must not lament ”

Jürgen Klopp

The hinge is absent most of the season

The start of the trouble dates back to the derby at Everton (2-2, 17 October).

A kamikaze - and not sanctioned - exit from goalkeeper Jordan Pickdord on Virgil Van Dijk and a relentless diagnosis for the Dutch defender: rupture of the cruciate ligaments.

Base man of the Reds defense, the vice-captain saw his axis partner Joe Gomez injure the tendon of the left knee in selection.

Successfully operated, as Klopp confirmed at a press conference on Friday, the Briton will also be absent for at least six months.

Add to that the absence of right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold and only Scottish left-back Andrew Robertson remains to compose the defense.

“I know the fans are worried although I guess they must start to get used to all the injuries in the squad.

But I feel in great shape and ready to do battle, ”reassured the Scotsman on Saturday. 

"I feel fit, feel ready to go."

@ andrewrobertso5 on his fitness and a look ahead to a tough test in #LIVLEI

- Liverpool FC (@LFC) November 21, 2020

Radical change for Klopp, little follower of turnover

Result, Jürgen Klopp will, despite himself, have to compose and act against nature.

Little adept at turnover, the former Dortmund coach will draw on a workforce that remains quite large.

“Injuries are invariably part of the season, it's part of the job,” Klopp said.

But in our situation, it's slightly different since it concerns a lot of players in the same position, in a serious way moreover, which makes the situation even more delicate, of course. " 

Regarding the central axis, the German could opt for a Matip-Fabinho tandem.

If the position is unusual for the Brazilian, also barely returning from injury, Joel Matip has many more benchmarks.

After an almost blank season last year and a missed start to the season, still due to injury, the Cameroonian has resumed at Manchester City (1-1) and is called upon to play the leading roles this season.

"He's back, hopefully for a long time.

I don't know if he's in the best part of his career, but I'm happy with the four years he's been here.

He's an excellent player, ”Klopp said of the lanky central defender (29, 1.95 m), who arrived at the club in the summer of 2016.

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Mohamed Salah positive for coronavirus

Also deprived of young defender Rhys Williams (19), who has appeared twice in the Champions League, the English champion technician deplores the absence of his precious captain Jordan Henderson in the midfield, where Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Thiago Alcantara (also injured at Everton) are in the recovery phase.

"Nobody here is looking for pity or anything, we should not lament," he repeated.

We do not look for excuses, we inherit a particular situation.

We don't like injuries first because it's difficult for the players concerned, but the rest is to find solutions.

It's part of the job. ”

Solution among others, the Dutch midfielder Georginio Wijnaldum (30) should know his 200th in the jersey of the Reds this Sunday.

It is perhaps on the front of the attack that the situation is least urgent for the Reds, where only Mohamed Salah, positive for Covid-19 with the Egyptian selection, is missing.

One absent, and not the least (8 goals in 8 league matches), which will be replaced by the revelation Diogo Jota, arrival from Wolverhampton against 45 million euros this summer.

With three league goals and a hat-trick at Atalanta in the Champions League, the Portuguese has already confirmed that he is more than an understudy.

One of the reasons why the pragmatic Jürgen Klopp, more measured than after the match at City, is not overly worried: "As long as we can line up eleven players on the field, we will fight for the three points .

We can and we will field eleven players, that's what I can promise at least for Sunday, then we'll do it with the means at hand. "

Without feeling sorry for himself.

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