Jurgen Klopp might be leaving Liverpool at the end of the campaign but he has the opportunity to engineer quite the swansong, having prevailed with an injury-ravaged and youth-filled team against Chelsea at Wembley on Sunday, lifting the Carabao Cup to set the tone for the months to come.
Now, just days on, Southampton travel to Anfield in the FA Cup fifth round, with the Championship promotion hopefuls no doubt looking to capitalise on Liverpool's pinched squad right now, Ryan Gravenberch forced off at the weekend to join an injury list consisting of Alisson, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Curtis Jones, Diogo Jota, Thiago Alcantara, Stefan Bajcetic and Joel Matip.
Mohamed Salah, Darwin Nunez and Dominik Szoboszlai are also "touch and go", according to Klopp, with all three possibly set to sit Wednesday's contest out.
With Wataru Endo nursing a knock after his herculean effort too against Chelsea, he might not be risked this evening and so Liverpool have to contend with a host of absences. It won't be easy.
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Klopp does not have much to work with as many senor options on the sidelines but he will be forced to rotate insofar as rotation is feasible, the FA Cup tie sandwiched between last weekend's elation and a testing away trip to Nottingham Forest in the Premier League on Saturday.
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ByAngus Sinclair Feb 27, 2024 Cody Gakpo must move into midfield
Clearly, Gakpo's inclusion in the centre of the park is not indicative of an ideal world in Klopp's stratagems for further success this season, and Southampton might be playing in the second tier but they are filled with quality and are targeting an instantaneous return to the Premier League following relegation in 2023.
Gravenberch and Endo won't play, but Alexis Mac Allister, who was substituted before extra time on Sunday, might be required to anchor the midfield, and while one of Clark or McConnell, both aged 19, is likely to feature from the outset, playing Nyoni too would only upset the harmony and balance that will requisite for control.
Mac Allister averages 2.8 tackles per Premier League match this term and contributed with a whopping six tackles against Chelsea, so he will serve confidently as the holding member, and Gakpo has elite technicality and a string of centre-midfield performances this term that could work well for the Reds tonight.
As per FBref, the Dutchman ranks among the top 4% of forwards across Europe's top five leagues over the past year for progressive passes, the top 2% for tackles, the top 11% for interceptions and the top 5% for blocks per 90.
Of course, such statistics are collated against positional peers in the final third, but bespeak his multi-functionality and indeed transferrable skill set, having been praised for his "special skill set" by assistant manager Pep Lijnders.
He's played in midfield seven times this season and while it is not ideal, would be a much better, more experienced and more cultured option to ensure that Liverpool don't let things slip against Southampton, who will be more than up to the task.