James Pearce has revealed what he expects Liverpool’s centre-back partnership to be against Leicester City, claiming two options are “most likely”.
The Reds visit the Foxes on Saturday afternoon, with their injury problems continuing to prove troublesome.
Fabinho has been ruled out of the game, joining Virgil van Dijk, Joe Gomez and Joel Matip on the sidelines.
Writing on Twitter on Friday, Pearce claimed that he either expects to see Jordan Henderson paired with Ozan Kabak or Nathaniel Phillips at the King Power Stadium:
Going to be interesting to see what CB combination Klopp picks against Leicester. Can't see him throwing in both the new boys. Kabak/Henderson or Henderson/Phillips would seem to be most likely. Or could go Kabak/Phillips, Davies/Phillips, Davies/Henderson. #LFC
— James Pearce (@JamesPearceLFC) February 12, 2021
Read Liverpool Verdict
It would be a huge surprise if Henderson wasn’t one of the centre-backs on Saturday, even though it remains a far-from-ideal situation.
Throwing Kabak and Ben Davies in together on their debuts would feel reckless, especially given the quality of Liverpool’s opponents.
Phillips has proven to be solid enough when called upon this season, so it wouldn’t be a shock to see him play instead of Kabak.
The Turkey international needs to start featuring regularly soon, though – every match is crucial – or Liverpool may as well have not signed him on loan.
