Virgil van Dijk could have surprise new centre-back partner for Champions League clash

Liverpool boss Arne Slot is facing a major defensive dilemma.

Speaking to the media on Tuesday ahead of the Reds’ Champions League clash against Qarabag, Slot confirmed Joe Gomez would not feature having been injured in Liverpool’s 3-2 loss to Bournemouth.

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When asked whether there was a timeline for Gomez’s return from a hip injury, Slot said: “Not really. But I can confirm that he is not available for tomorrow.

“I expect him back in a relatively short period of time.”

Also unavailable for the Qarabag fixture is Ibrahima Konate, who has been granted compassionate leave following the passing of his father.

“I’m hoping and expecting him (Konate) back soon, but also not for tomorrow evening’s game,” Slot added.

With Gomez and Konate absent along with summer recruit Giovanni Leoni, who is sidelined for the season, Slot will have to take a bold approach towards selecting Reds skipper Virgil van Dijk‘s partner at centre-back.

Who could play alongside Van Dijk against Qarabag?

The Liverpool boss hinted that is almost certain to come in the form of a midfielder.

“It is for sure that at centre-back tomorrow there will not be a centre-back,” Slot said.

“I can only play a midfielder over there, because there are no centre-backs available, apart from Virgil, who is one of the players I credit a lot for him being fit all the time.”

Slot’s statement could indicate a rare starting berth for Wataru Endo.

The Japan international has largely featured as a defensive midfielder throughout his Anfield career.

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Why Endo could be the perfect partner for Van Dijk

However, he played as a centre-back for Japanese clubs Shonan Bellmare and Urawa Red Diamonds.

It was only following his move to Europe, when he joined Belgian outfit Sint-Truiden in 2018 from Urawa, that he was converted into a defensive midfielder.

Endo has featured just nine times for Liverpool this term, two of which have been starts.

Those came in a 2-1 win over Southampton and a 3-0 loss to Crystal Palace in the Carabao Cup.

Liverpool go into Wednesday’s clash against Qarabag sitting 4th in the Champions League table with 15 points.

Should they beat the Azerbaijani outfit, Slot’s side would be guaranteed a spot in the round of 16, saving them a two-legged play-off to qualify amid an already-congested fixture list.

How could Liverpool line up against Qarabag?

Goalkeeper: Alisson

Defence: Milos Kerkez, Virgil van Dijk, Wataru Endo, Jeremie Frimpong

Midfield: Alexis Mac Allister, Ryan Gravenberch, Dominik Szoboszlai

Forwards: Florian Wirtz, Cody Gakpo, Mohamed Salah

However, the Dutchman is under no illusions about the task ahead, especially since Qarabag held Chelsea to a 2-2 draw and beat Benfica 3-2 earlier in the league phase.

“It’s always the individuals and the players that make things difficult,” Slot said.

“In terms of playing style, they are very direct, fast players, go very direct towards goal with a lot of runs in behind, players who are comfortable on the ball.

“They’ve shown this season against big clubs – because there are only big clubs in the Champions League – that they are a very good team and a hard team to beat. Even [against] Chelsea they were able to keep them to 2-2.

“I think even if you look at our Champions League campaign this season, some teams maybe have been lucky enough to face the ones that are now all outside the next round from 24th to 34th place. I think there’s only one team from those 10 that we faced.

“We’ve had a lot of strong teams to face and we did really well.

“But maybe two days afterwards when we had to play in the league that brought us some problems because we’ve played so many strong teams in Europe.”