Liverpool has had the same bad luck with injuries in the new year. Jurgen Klopp’s players are leaving like flies, and with the Reds fighting on four fronts, the medical staff might need to work some Mo Salah-like magic for them to reach their goals this season.

Trent Alexander-Arnold joined a list of 10 players who were not at Anfield for Wednesday’s Carabao Cup semi-final first leg against Fulham. Klopp’s team was completely missing players because of injuries and two key players, Salah and Wataru Endo, were away on international business.

Klopp and his right-hand man Pep Lijnders have found ways to deal with every forced absence so far. When Andy Robertson hurt his shoulder, Kostas Tsimikas stepped up to help. Joe Gomez showed how versatile he is when Tsimikas broke his shoulder.

Liverpool only has one Gomez, which is a shame. This season, he has filled in at right back, center back, and left back when needed, but he can only be in one spot at a time. Now, Alexander-Arnold’s accident looks like it will be the last straw that breaks the camel’s back.

In his place, a young player who hasn’t played much yet should step up. Conor Bradley or Owen Beck are the most likely candidates to do this. Not only do Liverpool like both of them, but they are also good at defense. However, the Reds have lost their main playmaker, as Alexander-Arnold was often the star player.

Lijnders said on Tuesday, “Trent was decisive in all the games. He was the one who always created for us from deep and gave the team a high level of flexibility.” “We’ll miss him a lot.” The Dutch coach is right, especially since Salah, the team’s top scorer, will also be out for about a month.

On Sunday night at the Emirates, Alexander-Arnold was seen limping onto the team bus. He told reporters he would talk to them after the next game because he was in a hurry, which suggests the 25-year-old didn’t think this was a big deal.

“A few weeks,” Lijnders said was the best guess. The holiday break is coming up, and there is only one Premier League game left until January 31. It could be worse for their key players to be out.

But Fulham’s latest trip to Anfield, where they lost 4–3, showed that they are no pushovers. They were ahead until the very end of the game. Yes, Alexander-Arnold and Endo were the ones who saved Liverpool with late goals that won the game and tied it late.

Raul Jimenez is a forward that Klopp will want to watch out for. He has scored five goals in his last seven games and is getting back to his best after having trouble scoring after a career-threatening head injury. “He plays without fear,” Marco Silva, the manager, said. “Everyone can see that he’s doing important things.”Rafael is the same guy we signed in July of last year. We think he can help us be strong. When you don’t score in the Premier League for ten or eleven months, you can’t understand how bad it is. Just picture what was going through his mind.

Liverpool is expected to go with Bradley, a full back from Northern Ireland. He played 15 minutes against Arsenal and did a great job of defending one-on-one and making last-ditch interceptions. The 20-year-old was Bolton’s best loan player last year.

You could also play Gomez as a right back instead of a left back. Beck is the great-nephew of Ian Rush and was just called back from a loan at Dundee. The Welsh player got great reviews in the UK and is thought to be more ready to play than Luke Chambers, another young player.

“We have a lot of weapons, so no one here is important,” Lijnders said. “If you don’t have your best players there and still play really well, like in the second half against Arsenal, that’s a great sign. That’s what we’ve always done.”

Robertson will see a surgeon next week to talk about his shoulder problem, and he hopes to go to a training camp in Dubai where it will be warm. He hopes to be working with the team by the end of January, which also seems to be Alexander-Arnold’s goal date for his return.

This season, Liverpool has had to deal with a lot of tough problems, such as injuries, problems with VAR, and going down 1-0 in 10 games. But the next four weeks, when so many important players will be out, will be the hardest yet. Let’s talk about prizes after you’re done with it.