Injuries the Headline for Both Sides Ahead of the Liverpool-Leicester Clash

While much has been made of Liverpool’s situation, their
opponents are far from untouched by injury

With international duty in full swing, reports of muscle
injuries to Jordan Henderson and Andy Robertson — alongside Mohamed Salah’s positive COVID-19 test results — have further diminished a
Liverpool squad smarting from the loss of and Virgil Van Dijk.

Despite the doom and gloom, however, it’s unclear exactly how
many players will be unavailable. Robertson and Henderson might yet feature again for their national
teams this week, as it’s likely international managers are treating
players with some caution given the demanding schedule. Salah, too,
has not been confirmed as unavailable for the weekend’s
clash, though he could remain in isolation until after the
fixture.

This is not to diminish the very real injury crisis the Reds
have faced, which has unfortunately concentrated on a single
position group: the defense (or even the back five if you think
back to Alisson’s early-season injury). With Joe Gomez and Virgil
Van Dijk out for extended periods, and Joël Matip’s fitness
limiting his minutes, manager Jürgen Klopp will have to be creative
with his lineup choices in the coming weeks.

It is very possible that Fabinho will return to partner Matip at
the weekend, but the centerback pairing could well remain in flux
in coming weeks to manage Matip’s fitness over time. As such, Reds
fans will probably see some minutes for youth squad players in
coming weeks — not always a bad thing, as a very similar situation
is what first afforded Alexander-Arnold a place in the side, and we
all know what level of player he’s turned out to be.

Photo
by John Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images

The return of Kostas Tsimikas should help Robertson budget
minutes at left back, but the injury to Alexander-Arnold comes
without a ready-made first team stand-in, and youngster Neco
Williams will look to get more first team minutes (though it’s
possible that veteran James Milner might do another stint at
fullback, especially in challenging fixtures).

In sum, the back line against Leicester should see two to three
changes at the very least, and shifts in the defensive line will
likely become routine over the coming weeks.

Leicester City, too, have very long injury list at the
moment, and while their woes are not equal to those Klopp is
currently dealing with, manager Brendan Rodgers

Though goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel was substituted at halftime with a head injury
during the Denmark-Iceland match at the weekend, it’s likely the
Dane will recover to feature again for his country before returning
to England; if his injury is more serious, however, former-Red
Danny Ward might just make a start in goal for the Foxes.

Photo
by Catherine Ivill/Getty Images

Leicester are certain Caglar Soyüncü and Daniel Amartey will not
be fit for Sunday’s match, and fullback Timothy Castagne is
fighting to return. Soyüncü, Leicester’s reliable center back — who
stepped in admirably after the departure of Harry Maguire — is a massive miss for the
Foxes, and new-signing Castagne would be as well: the fullback has
already become a hub of creativity and defensive solidity in the
first third of the 2020/21 season.

Ricardo Pereira, another Leicester fullback, is looking to return to fitness as well, though
like Castagne a return as soon as the weekend would be an
unexpected and positive surprise for Leicester City fans. Mirroring Liverpool’s
international break woes, Wesley Fofana, a new standout at
centerback for the Foxes, returned quickly to England following a
“small problem” picked up early on with the
French U21 side.

Wilfred Ndidi is unavailable, but the rest of the Leicester
midfield and attack is fit to face the Reds. As such, expect
Jamie Vardy to look for space behind whoever
Klopp selects to defend the Foxes on Sunday, linking up with a
newly-fit James Maddison in the midfield.

Of course, there are still international fixtures to play, and
travel to occur, so even more absences could pile up between now
and Sunday.

As the English Champions take on the side currently at the top
of the table, squad depth will be tested — as will collective
responses to adversity. It’s not impossible that the depleted Reds
come out on top in especially the latter category: mentality
monsters, after all.