Define: makeshift
Liverpool are heading into Tuesday’s Champions League clash with Bayern Munich without several key players, with injuries ruling out Dejan Lovren and Joe Gomez, while Virgil Van Dijk is suspended and Roberto Firmino suffering from a virus.
This makes Joel Matip their only fit central defender, which wouldn’t be the end of the world if they were preparing for a league game against Brighton. But they’re not, they are preparing for a Champions League tie against Bayern Munich, who have Robert Lewandowski up front. And he’s pretty good.
Matip is set to start in central defence alongside summer signing Fabinho, who is most often deployed in a defensive midfield position.
The Brazilian has often played at right-back in the past, but he’s seldom been asked to lead a defensive line against top opposition.
This will likely mean we see the return of James Milner, Gini Wijnaldum and Jordan Henderson in midfield, unless Naby Keita steps into the number 10 position, filling the vacancy left by Firmino, whose illness has made him a doubt for the first leg.
Bayern have injury problems of their own, too. Neither Jerome Boateng or Franck Ribery trained ahead of the game, but they can at least field two actual centre-backs in Mats Hummels and Niklas Süle.
Thomas Müller will also miss the first leg as he serves a ban for literally kicking an Ajax player in the face during the group stage. It was accidental, but still.
In spite of these injuries, Tuesday’s game set to be an enthralling encounter.
