If there was anything that could hamper Liverpool’s race for the league title this season, it will be an injury. The club hit the ground running on an impressive form, establishing an eight-point lead against Leicester City and Chelsea who are in second and third respectively and also nine points ahead of arch-rival, Manchester City who occupy the fourth position.
Liverpool have shown the will and fight to get the league title this season. They have played 12 matches this season, winning 11 with just one draw and they look likely to extend their unbeaten run when they face Crystal Palace this weekend in Selhurst Park.
Right now, they are top of the league and only one thing is in their way which is the current injuries to some of the major players in the Liverpool squad. Over the last international break, up to five key players withdrew their services for their respective national teams and have already returned to Merseyside for treatment.
Affected key players
Mohamed Salah had picked up an injury when playing against Manchester City in their Premier League clash last weekend but it was surprising to see him play for Egypt against Kenya and Comoros.
The fear of most Liverpool fans came alive when Salah was forced to withdraw in the match against Kenya after aggravating his ankle injury.
Although the extent of his injury is yet to be known but the forward recently shared a video indicating that he was making progress in his treatments.
For Virgil van Dijk, it cannot be totally decided that the Liverpool star is injured just yet as the Dutch FA claimed as seen on Mirror UK that the Oranje skipper’s action to pull out of Netherland’s 0-0 draw with Nothern Ireland on Saturday was due to personal reasons.
It still bothers on the question of ‘why he was pulled out of the match’. If it was to save him ahead of Netherland’s game against Estonia on Tuesday then Liverpool will have nothing to worry about but should it be that he was pulled out due to injury concerns then Liverpool may have a problem on their hands.
England pair Joe Gomez and Jordan Henderson also terminated their stay with the Three Lions as a result of a knee injury and illness respectively. The duo returned to Melwood prior to their side’s 4-0 win over Kosovo on Sunday.
For Andy Robertson, he made himself unavailable for selection in Scotland’s two remaining qualifiers after revealing that he has been carrying a niggling ankle injury for almost three weeks.
Injury effect on Liverpool
The current Liverpool squad are so used to each other that they are playing and also having fun while at it. If the squad that played against Manchester City plays every game for Liverpool, the league race will be decided far before its end with Liverpool claiming early victory.
Jurgen Klopp has been able to create a balanced team around these players, making it really obvious why they are the European Champions.
The team is in a good place right now but long layoffs for any of the players right now will definitely affect the balance of the squad. Most of the players are close to being irreplaceable.
From the defence to the midfield and attack, they’ve all been in sync and everyone on the team contribute immensely to attack that fixing in a replacement might take time for the team to adjust.
Due to this, Jurgen Klopp must do everything in his power to protect his players and the reason is that the clubs trailing behind Liverpool on the Premier League table are not resting. All it takes to slip is a loss here and there and we might see either Leicester City or Chelsea take the number one spot from them.
Conclusion
Liverpool are in a good place right now and if they keep this current form up, they will be straight on the path to winning the Premier League after years of waiting but what Jurgen Klopp needs to avoid is having too many injuries to key players of his team.
