Liverpool hope Andy Robertson will survive Scotland’s friendly against England unscathed as Jurgen Klopp faces a potential defensive crisis.
Liverpool are currently in a defensive crisis, with Ibrahima Konate and Trent Alexander-Arnold doubtful for Saturday’s trip to Wolves.
Konate missed the Reds’ last two games with a thigh injury and was not invited to France before the national team break. Meanwhile, Alexander-Arnold limped off in the Reds’ 3-0 win against Aston Villa and was withdrawn from the England squad for the games against Ukraine and Scotland.
Jürgen Klopp will certainly be without Virgil van Dijk in the game against Wolves. The Dutchman could serve a further one-match ban following his red card against Newcastle last month. He was sent off in the first half for a foul on Alexander Isak at St James’ Park.
An automatic one-match ban ruled Van Dijk out of the win at Villa before it was confirmed on Friday that he will now also miss the trip to Wolves. He was fined £100,000 after admitting acting in an inappropriate manner and using offensive and violent language towards John Brooks.
With Alexander-Arnold and Konate both out, Klopp could experiment with Joe Gomez on the right and Joel Matip and Jarell Quansah in the middle of defence. Gomez and Matip impressed as a defensive pairing against Villa last time out, while Quansah made his Liverpool debut at Newcastle. Klopp is also hoping Andy Robertson will survive without injury when Scotland host England.
The left-back helped the Tartan Army to a fifth consecutive Euro 2024 qualifier in Cyprus on Friday and is expected to feature alongside Steve Clarke at Hampden Park on Tuesday.
As for Liverpool, they have started the season brightly under Klopp and are still unbeaten after four Premier League games. The Reds have collected 10 points from a possible 12 and are one of six teams that have not lost a game in the Premier League. The others are Manchester City, Tottenham, West Ham, Brentford and Arsenal.
Klopp said of his side’s win over Villa before the international break: “It was a top game, the best for a long, long time. I don’t know when we’ve been so convincing and obviously we’ve had some good games now – especially at the end of last season and things like that. It was really good.”
“We were able to use the formation correctly today, everyone wanted the ball or defended or showed or offered,” Klopp added.
“So it was a top game, there’s no other way to say it. I don’t know when the next time I’ll be able to say that, but today was as good as it can be because the opponent is very strong and we didn’t do it. give a compliment to which is great to my boys.”
