It may not quite be 2020/21 levels of absence. But Liverpool are once again struggling to keep their centre-backs fit and available this season.
Virgil van Dijk became the latest to fall with the hamstring injury he suffered during the first half of the dismal Premier League defeat at Brentford on Monday, the Dutchman visiting a specialist as he prepares for an extended spell on the sidelines.
Before the season had even started, Ibrahima Konate sustained a knee problem that has helped restrict him to just five Liverpool outings this campaign. And when the Frenchman did make a swiftly aborted comeback in October, it was to replace Joel Matip who was then missing for the remainder of the first part of the term.
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Joe Gomez is the only senior centre-back option to avoid serious injury - although a minor niggle meant Nat Phillips started alongside Van Dijk in the second Premier League game of the season at home to Crystal Palace - and has featured in 20 of 26 games this season, but his form has been affected more than most by the general Liverpool malaise.
Indeed, for only three games this season has Jurgen Klopp had all four centre-backs available - and two of those ended with one of the starters limping off through injury.
Van Dijk has been a mainstay. But with the Dutchman now out for the foreseeable and Liverpool's imminent assignments an FA Cup third round visit of Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday followed by key Premier League games at Brighton and Hove Albion and home to Chelsea, a new centre-back partnership must now be forged.
The return to fitness of Matip, then, is a timely, the Cameroonian having used the World Cup break to recover from his calf problem. While a regular for much of the quadruple-chasing last season, Matip was overlooked for Konate in the FA Cup and Champions League finals. However, he responded by being arguably Liverpool's best defender this campaign before his injury, his form throughout 2022 earning him a place in the WhoScored.com Premier League team of the year - alongside Van Dijk. The Reds conceded only 16 times in the 22 top-flight games he played.
"I was happy to be back on the pitch during the training camp in Dubai," said Matip, speaking to the official Liverpool matchday programme. "I think I used the extra time that was given us well.
"Unfortunately injuries are part of football and the only thing you can do when you have them is hope that you don't have too many more and just keep working. You know from the past that you will be able to come back and be ready and in shape again and that starts with the daily work.
"I think the break was also quite nice to have because at some point you should not think about football. It's nice to clear the head and be ready again and my mindset was that the break meant I wouldn't miss as many games.
"For me, it was happy timing that the World Cup came when it did and so I had that time to get in the best shape I could and clear my head to get fresh again and come into this next part of the season with a fresh head and fresh legs."
Matip - who replaced Van Dijk at half-time - and Konate ended the Brentford defeat as the centre-back pairing, and have started six games alongside each other, the most recent being the final Premier League game of last season at home to Wolves.
Konate and Gomez have started three games together at centre-back, while in six-and-a-half years the partnership of Gomez and Matip at the heart of defence has been seen only four times, most recent in the Carabao Cup loss at Manchester City a fortnight ago. Phillips, another option, has started just three Liverpool games in more than 18 months.
Matip, with approaching 200 games for Liverpool, is now the most experienced option. But whoever lines up together at centre-back, it will add another level of uncertainty to a season where little has been guaranteed for Klopp and his players.
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