League leaders Liverpool FC head to 13th place Brighton & Hove Albion this weekend with nothing short of a full injury crisis in the back line. Despite the severe fitness issues in the back, Liverpool is reportedly not going to seek out and purchase a defender this January transfer window.
Given all the money spent in the summer, it is understandable why the Merseyside club might not want to splash out more cash on player acquisition this month. According to an ESPN report, Reds manager Jurgen Klopp is content to play midfielder Fabinho in central defense, instead of going out and getting another centre-half.
That said, let’s take a look at the rest of the injury and fitness situation for both sides; starting with the visitors.
Team Captain Jordan Henderson is likely to return after having missed out on the FA Cup loss at Wolverhampton Wanderers due to a knock. Defenders Joel Matip and Joe Gomez remain long term injury absentees while Dejan Lovren is a serious doubt after having limped out of Monday night’s defeat at the Molineux.
Centre-back extraordinaire Virgil van Dijk missed that game due to a minor knock but was in full training with the rest of the squad today.
Flipping over the hosts now, Bernardo remains out due to injury, while Jose Izquierdo (knee injury) is reportedly getting closer to being able to feature again, but won’t be ready in time for this one.
Mathew Ryan and Alireza Jahanbakhsh will be absent due to international duty at the Asian Cup.
Liverpool FC at Brighton & Hove Albion FYIs
Kickoff: Saturday, January 12, 3:00 PM local, Falmer Stadium
Brighton recent form: LLLDWD, (all competitions): LLDWDW
Liverpool recent form: WWWWWL (all competitions): WWWWLL
Liverpool starting XI prediction: go to this link
Google Result Probability: Liverpool FC win 74%, Draw 17%, Brighton win 9%
Jurgen Klopp Press Conference Video, Quotes: coming Friday
Odds via Bet365: Liverpool 2/7, Draw 3/1, Brighton 9/1
Prediction: Liverpool 3, Brighton 1
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, regularly appears as a guest pundit on WGN CLTV and co-hosts the “Let’s Get Weird, Sports” podcast on SB Nation.
He also contributes sociopolitical essays to Chicago Now. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram. The content of his cat’s Instagram account is unquestionably superior to his.