Stuck in the middle
Salah genius masks Klopp’s Liverpool midfield headache
LIVERPOOL: Mohamed Salah’s brilliance has taken most of the focus away from Liverpool’s midfield concerns as they seek to finish a memorable season in style.
Juergen Klopp’s side host Stoke in the English Premier League today with confidence sky-high after Tuesday’s spectacular 5-2 victory over Roma in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final.
Salah produced a masterclass against his former club, scoring twice and providing two assists as he took his club total for the season to 43. Four more goals would equal Ian Rush’s Liverpool record for goals in one season, set in 1983-84.
Yet while there was much talk after the game of the Egypt winger being a serious contender for the Ballon d’Or, there was also concern about the season-ending injury to Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, which could have serious implications for Liverpool’s ambitions.
The midfielder will miss the World Cup after suffering knee ligament damage in making a challenge on Aleksandar Kolarov, and his absence leaves Klopp with a headache.
Liverpool are already short of options in midfield, with Emre Can absent because of a bad back and Adam Lallana, who has endured a dreadful season with injuries, recovering from a hamstring problem.
Klopp’s only available senior mid- fielders are the three players who finished Tuesday’s match -- Jordan Henderson, Georginio Wijnaldum and James Milner – and he can ill-afford to lose any of them to injury before the second leg of the Roma tie in Italy on Wednesday.
Yet the manager has only two options if he wishes to rest any of them against Stoke -- either change the 4-3-3 formation that has been his preference this season, or promote one of his younger players to the starting line-up.
The former option would probably see Klopp go for a 3-4-3 set-up, with Nathaniel Clyne and Alberto Moreno operating as the wing-backs either side of a central midfield pairing of Henderson and Wijnaldum, allowing Milner to preserve his energy for what is likely to be a physically demanding night in Rome.
Should Klopp decide to stick with 4-3-3, then that may well see Ben Woodburn given a rare chance.
The 18-year-old Wales international has played just 45 minutes of first-team football for Liverpool this season.