With out their first-choice left-back dealing with months out, Liverpool have established a brand new pecking order, with teen Luke Chambers set to profit.
The primary a part of Liverpool’s contingency plan within the absence of Andy Robertson was revealed by Saturday’s Merseyside derby.
As had been anticipated, Kostas Tsimikas got here in to start out at left-back, taking part in his half in a hard-fought 2-0 win over Everton at Anfield.
In fact, if the Greek is to step as much as first-choice duties within the weeks forward, then another person might want to substitute him within the function of understudy.
And that’s going to be a vitally vital job in a interval that options video games in each the League Cup and Europa League, with a fixture in opposition to Toulouse within the latter competitors developing on Thursday.
Apparently, a clue as to how Jurgen Klopp will look to fill this emptiness was provided up by occasions on the academy on Sunday afternoon.
Calum Scanlon might have claimed a coveted spot on the bench when the primary group confronted Everton, however was given the identical function for the U21s’ assembly with Benfica 24 hours later.
And that’s as a result of a sure Luke Chambers was named from the beginning, choosing up important minutes within the aftermath of an ankle damage sustained throughout the latest worldwide break.
In fact, the defender loved a quiet afternoon, with one memorable dribble down the left and a few good work on the quilt the sum complete of his contribution to a good recreation that resulted in a 1-1 draw.
If something in any respect stood out it was Chambers’ physicality, his six-foot-plus body making him at occasions appear to be a person taking part in amongst boys and suggesting he gained’t be instantly focused by diagonal balls ought to he step as much as the first-team atmosphere.
However maybe essentially the most notable side of this outing was that it ended at half-time, very like that of Jarell Quansah, who feels a sure starter in midweek.
That call suggests Chambers can count on a significant alternative when Toulouse come to city, along with his first senior begin and solely second look within the first group probably up for grabs.
It might symbolize a big second for a participant who has been a part of the membership’s youth setup for the reason that age of simply six, one which was removed from sure to come up this season given the quantity of mortgage curiosity Liverpool fielded over the summer season.
Chambers had spent the latter half of final season thriving at Scottish top-flight outfit Kilmarnock, even turning down an U20 World Cup call-up from England to assist save them from relegation.
And that present of maturity, mixed with the standard of his performances, meant a number of golf equipment have been eager to pay money for the 19-year-old on the same settlement this time period.
Sadly, a poorly timed damage denied him an opportunity to impress Jurgen Klopp in pre-season and in addition, it appeared, scuppered hopes of one other constructive short-term transfer.
Nonetheless, This Is Anfield understands that the choice to not mortgage out Chambers had in actual fact been taken whatever the health points he confronted over the summer season.
As an alternative, it was linked to Liverpool finally electing to not strengthen the left-hand aspect of their defence regardless of having monitored that marketplace for a while.
On this context, it’s attention-grabbing that one of many golf equipment who failed of their mortgage pursuit was Bayer Leverkusen, whose personal left-footed defender Piero Hincapie had beforehand been tracked by the Reds.
Finally, although, each gamers ended up staying put, resulting in Chambers eyeing up a probably huge second in his fledgling profession this week.
With Robertson set to be sidelined for a while but, Thursday’s recreation provides an actual probability for Chambers to earn himself a sustained run within the first group that has been 13 years within the making.
