Liverpool’s defensive woes mount ahead of West Ham as Fabinho leaves Klopp with just one fit centre-half
Last Updated: October 28, 2020 9:25 am
The injury concerns at Liverpool have this evening mounted further, after Fabinho was forced off during the club’s meeting with Midtjylland.
Reds toiling
Jurgen Klopp’s men are currently locked in action with the Danish giants at Anfield.
The matchup marks both clubs’ 2nd of the Champions League group stage campaign.
Ahead of kick-off on Merseyside, Liverpool sat 2nd in the Group D table, having picked up a hard-fought 1-0 win at Ajax last week.
Midtjylland, on the other hand, sat bottom, on the back of a 4-0 drubbing at home to Atalanta in their own opener.
As such, for obvious reasons, it was the hosts who headed into this evening’s proceedings as favourites to not only bag all 3 points, but to rack up a rake of goals along the way.
It has therefore come as something of a surprise to see Liverpool, thus far, struggle to break down their Danish opponents.
Jurgen Klopp’s decision to switch up his front-3, leaving star trio Mo Salah, Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino on the bench, has seen the Premier League champions’ attacking verve desert them, with the score locked at 0-0 as things stand.
0 – Liverpool have failed to register a single first-half shot on target for the first time in 51 home games in all competitions, since October 2018 against Manchester City in the Premier League. Stalled. pic.twitter.com/D8ioUXAYNt
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) October 27, 2020
Fabinho blow
The woes of the Reds, however, have stemmed beyond their struggles to find the net.
In an untimely blow during the first-half, Fabinho was forced off with what looked like a hamstring injury.
The Brazilian, whilst sprinting back towards the hosts’ box, suddenly pulled up clutching the back of his leg, with a subsequent discussion with Liverpool’s physios having eventually seen Fabinho limp off.
19-year-old Rhys Williams, meanwhile, was the man introduced in his place by Jurgen Klopp.
Worrying times for Liverpool, as Fabinho goes off through injury…
🔁 Rhys Williams takes his place alongside Joe Gomez 🔴 pic.twitter.com/hfjJIDffmB
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) October 27, 2020
Fabinho’s problem could not come at a worse time for Liverpool.
Reds stalwart Virgil van Dijk was recently ruled out for what is expected to be the remainder of the season, after being forced to go under the knife to correct a serious knee injury.
Joel Matip, meanwhile, has continued to toil in his efforts to regain full fitness over the early weeks of the campaign.
As such, with Dejan Lovren having moved on to Zenit St. Petersburg during the summer, Liverpool could well head into the club’s Premier League meeting with West Ham this weekend with just one fit senior central-defender – Joe Gomez – available for selection.
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This article was edited by Josh Barker.
Liverpool betting odds, next game:
Liverpool vs Burnley odds: result, both teams to score, correct score & goalscorers
| Liverpool vs Burnley Result/Both teams score | Yes | No |
|---|---|---|
| Liverpool | 15/8 | 1/1 |
| Burnley | 18/1 | 18/1 |
| Draw | 7/1 | 16/1 |
| Liverpool vs Burnley Goalscorers | First | Last | Anytime |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mohamed Salah | 6/5 | 6/5 | 4/9 |
| Sadio Mane | 7/4 | 7/4 | 8/11 |
| Divock Origi | 9/4 | 9/4 | 20/21 |
| Roberto Firmino | 5/2 | 5/2 | 1/1 |
| Takumi Minamino | 3/1 | 3/1 | 13/10 |
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| # | Team | MP | D | P |
| 1 | Manchester United FC | 19 | 11 | 40 |
| 2 | Manchester City FC | 18 | 18 | 38 |
| 3 | Leicester City FC | 19 | 14 | 38 |
| 4 | Liverpool FC | 18 | 16 | 34 |
| 5 | Tottenham Hotspur FC | 18 | 16 | 33 |
| 6 | Everton FC | 17 | 7 | 32 |
| 7 | West Ham United FC | 19 | 5 | 32 |
| 8 | Chelsea FC | 19 | 10 | 29 |
| 9 | Southampton FC | 18 | 5 | 29 |
| 10 | Arsenal FC | 19 | 4 | 27 |
| 11 | Aston Villa FC | 16 | 11 | 26 |
| 12 | Leeds United | 18 | -4 | 23 |
| 13 | Crystal Palace FC | 19 | -11 | 23 |
| 14 | Wolverhampton Wanderers FC | 19 | -8 | 22 |
| 15 | Newcastle United FC | 18 | -12 | 19 |
| 16 | Brighton & Hove Albion FC | 19 | -7 | 17 |
| 17 | Burnley FC | 17 | -13 | 16 |
| 18 | Fulham FC | 18 | -12 | 12 |
| 19 | West Bromwich Albion | 19 | -28 | 11 |
| 20 | Sheffield United FC | 19 | -22 | 5 |
| Player | Team | Goals |
|---|---|---|
| Salah, Mohamed | Liverpool FC | 13 |
| Kane, Harry | Tottenham Hotspur FC | 12 |
| Son, Heung Min | Tottenham Hotspur FC | 12 |
| Fernandes, Bruno | Manchester United FC | 11 |
| Vardy, Jamie | Leicester City FC | 11 |
| Calvert-Lewin, Dominic | Everton FC | 11 |
| Bamford, Patrick | Leeds United | 10 |
| Zaha, Wilfried | Crystal Palace FC | 8 |
| Wilson, Callum | Newcastle United FC | 8 |
| Rashford, Marcus | Manchester United FC | 7 |
| Ings, Danny | Southampton FC | 7 |
| Maupay, Neal | Brighton & Hove Albion FC | 7 |
| Lacazette, Alexandre | Arsenal FC | 7 |
| Mane, Sadio | Liverpool FC | 6 |
| Maddison, James | Leicester City FC | 6 |
| Watkins, Ollie | Aston Villa FC | 6 |
| Barnes, Harvey | Leicester City FC | 6 |
| Abraham, Tammy | Chelsea FC | 6 |
| Grealish, Jack | Aston Villa FC | 5 |
| Sterling, Raheem | Manchester City FC | 5 |
| Player | Team | Red Cards | Yellow Cards |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bellerin, Hector | Arsenal FC | 0 | 6 |
| Gallagher, Conor | West Bromwich Albion | 0 | 6 |
| Bissouma, Yves | Brighton & Hove Albion FC | 1 | 5 |
| Egan, John | Sheffield United FC | 1 | 5 |
| Hayden, Isaac | Newcastle United FC | 0 | 6 |
| McGinn, John | Aston Villa FC | 0 | 5 |
| Reid, Bobby | Fulham FC | 0 | 5 |
| Doucoure, Abdoulaye | Everton FC | 0 | 5 |
| Romeu, Oriol | Southampton FC | 0 | 5 |
| Dunk, Lewis | Brighton & Hove Albion FC | 1 | 4 |
| Phillips, Kalvin | Leeds United | 0 | 5 |
| Cash, Matty | Aston Villa FC | 0 | 5 |
| Evans, Jonny | Leicester City FC | 0 | 5 |
| Lundstram, John | Sheffield United FC | 1 | 4 |
| Kante, N`Golo | Chelsea FC | 0 | 5 |
| Milivojevic, Luka | Crystal Palace FC | 1 | 4 |
| Fernandes, Bruno | Manchester United FC | 0 | 4 |
| Grealish, Jack | Aston Villa FC | 0 | 4 |
| Ward-Prowse, James | Southampton FC | 0 | 4 |
| Tielemans, Youri | Leicester City FC | 0 | 4 |
| Player | Team | Assists |
|---|---|---|
| Kane, Harry | Tottenham Hotspur FC | 11 |
| De Bruyne, Kevin | Manchester City FC | 9 |
| Fernandes, Bruno | Manchester United FC | 7 |
| Grealish, Jack | Aston Villa FC | 7 |
| Son, Heung Min | Tottenham Hotspur FC | 6 |
| Rashford, Marcus | Manchester United FC | 5 |
| Robertson, Andrew | Liverpool FC | 5 |
| Digne, Lucas | Everton FC | 5 |
| Vardy, Jamie | Leicester City FC | 4 |
| Ward-Prowse, James | Southampton FC | 4 |
| Werner, Timo | Chelsea FC | 4 |
| Adams, Che | Southampton FC | 4 |
| Harrison, Jack | Leeds United | 4 |
| Chilwell, Benjamin | Chelsea FC | 4 |
| McGinn, John | Aston Villa FC | 4 |
| Cresswell, Aaron | West Ham United FC | 4 |
| Salah, Mohamed | Liverpool FC | 3 |
| Ings, Danny | Southampton FC | 3 |
| Sterling, Raheem | Manchester City FC | 3 |
| Firmino, Roberto | Liverpool FC | 3 |
