When one door closes, another one opens as the old saying goes. Liverpool have found that out the hard way during their mid-season training camp in Dubai.
Having been out since October with a knee injury, Luis Diaz had only enjoyed two days of training before complaining of discomfort. Returning to Merseyside for further tests, reports in Colombia have since suggested the winger will undergo surgery and be out until March.
With Diogo Jota still sidelined until February with a calf injury, it leaves Jurgen Klopp rather limited when it comes to his senior attacking options heading into the second half of the season.
MATCH RECAP: How Liverpool's game against Lyon in the Dubai Super Cup unfolded
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Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino and Darwin Nunez are the only available traditional options, and even then, that requires playing the £64m Uruguayan in a lesser-favoured left-wing role as opposed to down the middle. Granted, he impressed in such a role as part of this aforementioned attacking trio in the final weeks before the World Cup break, but he was only ever meant to be a stop-gap in the role ahead of Diaz’s looming return.
Now Liverpool must consider whether they will look to sign a new forward in January to compensate for Diaz’s lay-off. However, as the Reds returned to action against Lyon for their first friendly in the Dubai Super Cup, Klopp was able to turn to a couple of previously overlooked alternatives to fill that current vacant left-wing role.
It was Fabio Carvalho who started in such a position, lining up alongside Firmino and Salah, and he wasted no time in making an impact against the Ligue 1 side. With just 40 seconds on the clock, he stroked home into an unguarded net to give Liverpool the lead after good work from his fellow strike-partners.
Meanwhile, he played a vital role as the Reds nearly doubled their lead, only for Anthony Lopes to save Salah’s penalty. It was the 20-year-old’s link-up with the Egyptian that had played in Firmino to win the spot-kick in the first place.
Liverpool were the better side for the majority of the first half against Lyon, having started so quickly, and the free-flowing movement and link-up play between the front three was key to that. The French side just couldn’t handle them during their explosive start.
Alas, the Reds would slow and tire, which is to be expected from a first friendly back, and when the substitutions started to flow in the second half, they lost their rhythm on their way to a 3-1 loss. By that point, Carvalho was already on the bench having been replaced at half-time, with Liverpool ultimately looking sharpest when he was on the pitch.
It has been a rollercoaster season for the forward so far since joining the Reds. He’s scored two goals from 16 appearances as he slowly found his feet at Anfield. In truth, he has perhaps played more than was expected in his opening months with the club due to injuries elsewhere.
Yet, as is to be expected with a young player, his performances have been inconsistent. Six of those outings have come from the start, with him being replaced at half-time in two and only completing 90 minutes once.
It’s clear he has talent, but it will take time to truly unlock his potential at Anfield. Perhaps that is why he has turned his back on playing for Portugal Under-21s, instead focusing on his club football with Liverpool? Only time will tell.
When the Reds signed Carvalho from Fulham, Klopp lauded him as a versatile player who can play upfront, on the wing, as a number 10 and as a number eight. To date we have seen him in all four positions and while there have been glimpses of the aforementioned talent, it’s not yet clear what role he will grow into and make his own.
But perhaps Diaz’s potential lay-off until March will give him a fresh opportunity to nail down a position, with Carvalho’s bright first-half showing against Lyon a glimpse into whether he could now be turned to on the left. At the very least, he offered an attacking threat and returned a goal - something they will need to see more of in 2023 regardless.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain would replace the youngster at the break but was unable to make much of an impact in the role as Liverpool floundered. Out of contract next summer, he is expected to move on in 2023.
He still finished the defeat to Lyon with the captain’s armband, and was actually stationed centrally as a striker once Layon Stewart was forced off with injury. If he finds some rhythm in the weeks ahead, he too could be an alternative in Diaz and Jota’s absence.
Big games lie on the horizon as Liverpool look to force their way into the Premier League top four, progress in the Champions League and defend both domestic cups. They will need every body standing to compete on all fronts.
Yet as popular as Oxlade-Chamberlain is within the squad, he will soon be Liverpool’s past. Carvalho has been signed to be the Reds’ future, with the choice of which of the pair started alongside Salah and Firmino as the other emerged from the bench rather telling.
As a result, that future might be here sooner than you think, whether you like it or not, with the former Fulham youngster now next up in Klopp’s pecking order after those injury woes struck once again.
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