Liverpool defender Joe Gomez suffered a knee injury while on international duty with the England National Team.
England is scheduled to face Ireland in a friendly fixture followed by UEFA Nations League fixtures against Belgium and Iceland. Gomez reportedly got injured in training and he could be sidelined for a while.
Gomez’s injury is bad news for Liverpool as the club is already facing an injury crisis. Fabinho, Thiago Alcantara, Naby Keita, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Virgil Van Dijk are all recovering from injuries. Also, Liverpool’s right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold was taken off after he was injured during the game against Manchester City.
After Van Dijk’s serious injury, Gomez was a replacement for the highly-rated Dutch defender. Therefore, Gomez’s injury would definitely be a problem for Liverpool’s defense line.
Liverpool is short on defenders, but head coach Jurgen Klopp can count on young players like Rhys Williams, Nathaniel Phillips and Neco Williams. Center backs Phillips or Williams could potentially be Gomez’s replacement until Gomez comes back to action.
Both center-backs Williams and Phillips played this season with the first team and both players showed a lot of potential. Defender Joel Matip recently came back to action and started in Liverpool’s fixture against Manchester City.
Neco Williams or James Milner can either replace Alexander-Arnold. James Milner has a lot of experience with the team and Williams is a rising young player.
Liverpool can also sign a defender during the January transfer window. Defenders Dayot Upamecano, Kalidou Koulibaly and Ozan Kabak have all been linked with a transfer to Liverpool.
Competing for the Premier League and UEFA Champions League requires very high competitiveness and Liverpool has to fix its current defensive problem to be able to compete for these two titles.
Liverpool is scheduled to face Leicester City on Nov. 21 at Anfield.
