Mohamed Salah could possibly be unavailable for Liverpool till mid-February as he leads his nation on the Africa Cup of Nations, and it opens the doorways for one younger Crimson to take his probability.
In addition to dealing a blow to Liverpool, the lack of part-time winger Dominik Szoboszlai to a hamstring difficulty throughout Monday’s win over Newcastle served to show Jurgen Klopp proper.
Talking final week, the German shared his perception that it might be unwise to get too hooked up to the thought of any single participant changing Salah all through his stint on the Africa Cup of Nations, on condition that plans can so simply be scuppered by accidents.
And his place was immediately vindicated as one of many potential candidates to play the position of stand-in for the Reds’ star man was compelled off within the remaining sport earlier than his departure.
However, whereas he might have been justifiably reluctant to mull over this choice beforehand, the truth that Salah has now headed out to the Ivory Coast means he can now not keep away from it.
Assessing the choices
Life with out the influential 31-year-old begins at Arsenal on Sunday, and Liverpool’s supervisor higher have an answer.
With Salah a part of a five-man assortment of forwards who’ve rotated commonly this season, selecting out a substitute ought to, in idea, be simple.
Nonetheless, there are numerous causes to consider that his understudy may not truly come from that group.
For starters, of the seven video games that Salah has not began this season, the now-injured Ben Doak has are available to take his place in 4.
What’s extra – and that is clearly a design characteristic of a squad constructed round one man – the opposite forwards don’t really feel like a very good match for his place.
Luis Diaz is an out-and-out left winger, whereas Diogo Jota and Cody Gakpo each began in that place earlier than occurring to show they’re succesful in a central position.
Darwin Nunez, in the meantime, is the alternative – a centre-forward who has often been pushed out to the left throughout his profession.
However probably the most essential reality is that each one are right-footed, and so would probably unbalance a aspect so used to having a left footer chopping in off that proper wing.
As such, it’s straightforward to think about that quartet will proceed to battle for 2 beginning spots on the left and thru the center, liberating up the appropriate wing for a person who’s arguably probably the most pure deputy within the squad: Harvey Elliott.
A deserved probability
He could also be thought of a central midfielder now, however the 20-year-old made his title coming via at Fulham without any consideration winger chopping inside onto his favoured left foot.
And his first aim in a Liverpool shirt even got here from that place, a wise end for the under-21s in a 3-2 defeat to Oldham within the EFL Trophy again in August 2019.
In fact, Klopp has since been decided to rework him into right-sided No. 8, with numerous spectacular performances this season coming in that position.
Nonetheless, it additionally appears like that reclassification has often robbed him of minutes, together with his diminutive stature and set-piece menace of the opposition maybe making it far simpler to throw in Ryan Gravenberch in through the latter phases of latest video games.
Fortuitously for Elliott, that’s much less of a problem when the person you might be changing is Salah, and he provided some fairly compelling proof that he’s able to just do that in final month’s 5-1 win over West Ham.
It’s fascinating that, after that sport, the teenager was surprisingly essential of what most observers would have described as a powerful particular person efficiency.
He ended that 90 minutes having taken 5 pictures and created three probabilities in opposition to wonderful Premier League opposition, and but his focus was on a failure to show that menace into one thing extra tangible.
That’s an admirable mentality from a participant who clearly seen that outing as an audition however maybe ignores the truth that, if he generates the same quantity of pictures throughout future outings, targets are certainly assured.
On the very least, Elliott deserves to be given the prospect to seek out out if that’s true, and if he can guarantee Liverpool don’t miss one among their biggest ever gamers throughout his upcoming absence.
