20-year-old Ireland defender Conor Masterson has been drafted into Liverpool's squad for their crunch derby match with Manchester United at the weekend.
Masterson joins up with the senior squad amid a defensive crisis, with Joel Matip and Joe Gomez ruled out with a broken collar bone and fractured leg respectively. Both are expected to be out until around mid-January.
Trent Alexander-Arnold is expected to miss the United game with a foot problem and is also a doubt for the Wolves game the following Friday.
Nathaniel Clyne has provided Liverpool with a boost with Jurgen Klopp revealing that the England right back should be available for the weekend, though the German was hesitant to say whether the 27-year-old could last 90 minutes.
He also dismissed the notion that his side are in a defensive crisis, and maintained that he can still find solutions within the squad:
No, it’s our situation. A crisis is that if you feel it.
With Trent, it’s not as serious as the other two boys. It’s not top-class news, that is clear.
It was unlucky, especially with Joel. It was the last second of the game - when I was asked in the press I had no idea about it. Rehab already started pretty much [for Joel], same for Joe.
With Trent, it’s day by day. It’s not good, but as long as we still have enough players, it’s our job to find a solution for it – we will have a solution for the weekend, but of course it’s not perfect.
Provisional Liverpool squad: Alisson, Milner, Lovren, Van Dijk, Robertson, Fabinho, Wijnaldum, Shaqiri, Firmino, Mane, Salah, Mignolet, Moreno, Masterson, Phillips, Henderson, Keita, Sturridge, Origi, Camacho.
