Mamadou Sakho Injury Leaves Liverpool Squad Desperately Short in Defence

Confirmation that Mamadou Sakho will miss between six to eight weeks with the knee injury sustained in the 2-1 defeat to Crystal Palace on Sunday leaves Jurgen Klopp's already-small squad desperately short in defence.

Sakho, per Andy Hunter of the Guardian, "visited a specialist in Liverpool on Tuesday and the club has confirmed it will be six to eight weeks before the 25-year-old is available again."

That rules him out until the new year, missing the festive fixtures, final Europa League group games and the League Cup quarter-final against Southampton.

While the news is a huge blow to Liverpool, it's also a relief that the Frenchman has not suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury—that would have seen him ruled out for the rest of the season—in a similar manner to team-mates Danny Ings and Joe Gomez.

Speaking after Sunday's match, Klopp outlined just how important Sakho is to him, saying: “I would prefer to lose 4-1 and keep him in the team but it was the situation and now we have to see."

Incredibly, Klopp is now left with just five senior defenders for the next six weeks—centre-backs Martin Skrtel, Dejan Lovren and Kolo Toure, and full-backs Alberto Moreno and Nathaniel Clyne.

Thirty-four-year-old Toure, withdrawn in two of his three starts this season due to injury, is currently recovering from a hamstring injury and should be available for the trip to former club Manchester City after the international break.

Full-back Jon Flanagan could return in December, per the Liverpool Echo, but after 18 months out—also with a knee injury—he's going to be a long way from match fitness and is unlikely to return the same player.

Left-back Jose Enrique hasn't started a competitive game since January, isn't registered in Europe, and was subbed at half-time in his last two starts for the club. He could be offered a chance under Klopp and was due to be involved in the League Cup against Bournemouth recently but was ruled out with a knock in training, per the Liverpool Echo.

Young right-back Connor Randall was instead handed his debut against the Cherries, but the 20-year-old Liverpudlian picked up an injury before the trip to Rubin Kazan.

Klopp is so short of options that he's taking the international break as an opportunity to cast his eye on forgotten academy full-back Ryan McLaughlin—as noted by Simon Hughes and Ian Herbert of the Independent—who has a loan deal at Aberdeen but is not featuring regularly for the Scottish club.

The 21-year-old has made two appearances for Northern Ireland despite never making his full debut for Liverpool. He was involved in the club's pre-season tour in Brendan Rodgers' first summer at the club but has suffered from injuries since.

Should Klopp decide McLaughlin would be worth recalling, he would at least add some depth to the right-back area—where Nathaniel Clyne has started all but one game for the Reds in all competitions this season.

Skrtel and Lovren

With Sakho sidelined, Klopp will be forced to field Rodgers' preferred centre-back pairing of Skrtel and Lovren.

The latter has failed to look like a £20 million player since arriving from Southampton the summer previously, while Skrtel has been the only constant in Liverpool's constantly fragile defence in recent years.

Neither offers the leadership required—as evidenced by the failure to deal with a corner as Scott Dann headed the winner in the latter stages on Sunday—and neither offers a reliable presence in the heart of defence.

Both are prone to rash challenges in and around the box—giving away needless free-kicks that Liverpool are well known for struggling to defend from—and both struggle when forced into wide areas.

Klopp must hope that he is somehow able to cajole them into a robust pairing where Rodgers failed.

The German's different setup in defence, with the full-backs not asked to play as high up the pitch in starting positions, will hopefully aid that.

Moreno, the young Spaniard who has had his fair share of criticism in his first year at the club, has also looked less assured with Lovren alongside him, while one Anfield regular, Dan Kennett, referred to Lovren as Simon Mignolet's kryptonite such is the lack of understanding between the pair.

It will be some task for Klopp to go through the next two months with a Skrtel-Lovren partnership in defence, but he really doesn't have any alternative.

Backup

Behind the Skrtel-Lovren axis stands only Toure as backup—a player whose age is catching up with him.

Injury to any of the three senior centre-backs will see Klopp forced to bring in an academy player to the squad, and possibly their first-team debut.

The first in line would be 19-year-old Daniel Cleary, who has travelled with the squad and trained at Melwood in recent weeks. "A tall, imposing centre-back, Cleary is a mainstay in Michael Beale‘s U21s side, making seven appearances so far this season and serving as captain in the last three," details Jack Lusby for This Is Anfield.

Tom Brewitt would be another under-21 player Klopp could be forced to promote, aged just 18.

Elsewhere

Other options for Klopp include moving compatriot Emre Can back into defence. The 21-year-old struggled as an orthodox right-back at the latter end of last season, but he has been deployed there for the German national team recently. He also played left-back for Bayer Leverkusen in the season before he moved to Merseyside.

The versatile German has also played as centre-back previously for Leverkusen and Germany's under-21s. 

With the return of Jordan Henderson from injury, Klopp could ask Can to deputise in defence as required in these coming weeks. "I think he is a midfield player but of course he can play different positions and that’s the good thing with Emre," said Klopp last month, per Liverpool's official website.

Playing Can there wouldn't be ideal, but it would avoid having to blood a teenager with no first-team experience midseason.

January

What may be frustrating for Klopp is that Andre Wisdom and Tiago Ilori, two players loaned out by Rodgers in the summer, are getting very little playing time for their respective loan clubs, Norwich City and Aston Villa.

But with both deals involving loan fees, Liverpool would be unable to recall either player unless a mutual agreement, likely involving compensation, could be agreed—and that wouldn't be possible until January, by which time Sakho should be back available and the transfer window opens.

What's most likely is that Klopp will be eyeing up reinforcements in defence when the winter transfer window opens.

Acquiring an experienced defender who can operate in more than one position in the back four would make sense. A player such as Schalke's Benedikt Howedes would be ideal.

The 27-year-old played at left-back for Germany at the World Cup but is ordinarily a right-sided centre-back—making him the ideal player to arrive in January and provide good depth while he fits into the club, then replacing Skrtel in the summer and becoming Sakho's long-term partner.

Until then, Klopp must coax the best from Lovren and Skrtel together. It could be the most difficult task of his first season in charge.