Liverpool has a solution Arne Slot doesn't want to use as injury crisis deepens

Liverpool's injury crisis deepened when Jeremie Frimpong was forced off against Qarabag, but the Reds do have a backup solution - even if Arne Slot doesn't want to use him

Arne Slot's injury crisis is deepening at Liverpool(Image: Getty Images)

Even in the simplest of 6-0 wins, Arne Slot probably can’t help but curse his luck at Liverpool right now.

The Reds’ final league phase game in the Champions League couldn’t have gone much better, especially after the weekend’s dismal defeat to Bournemouth. There was no sign of the side that has struggled to see off the likes of Burnley, Leeds and Fulham as they refused to let up on Qarabag.

There was one major hitch though, with Jeremie Frimpong’s injury inside the first three minutes probably the last thing Slot wanted to see, other than perhaps Virgil van Dijk going down.

Liverpool was already having to fit square pegs in round holes with Ryan Gravenberch stepping into the back four in the absences of Ibrahima Konate, Joe Gomez and Giovanni Leoni, and with Conor Bradley out for the rest of the season, losing another right-back was just rubbing salt into the wounds for an under-fire Slot.

There’s no official word on the injury yet, but given the way he went down clutching his leg, and how early into the game he had to be withdrawn, you’d have to imagine we won’t be seeing Frimpong for at least a little while.

Hopefully Konate and Gomez can return soon enough, but there’s no doubt now that Liverpool’s defense is being stretched to its limit. The only solutions, therefore, would be a late move in the transfer window to add to Slot’s options, or to look elsewhere in the club for solution.

Jeremie Frimpong was forced off just three minutes into Liverpool's game against Qarabag(Image: Getty Images)

Even with both of his usual options at right-back out, the Reds’ boss does have another backup he can call upon. The problem is, he doesn’t exactly seem keen to do so.

Calvin Ramsay has re-emerged as a potential option for Liverpool this season. The Scotland international has had to deal with more than his fair share of injuries since joining the club in 2022, and it did seem as though he had fallen into obscurity with the Reds.

The 22-year-old though has been a regular feature in first-team training and on the bench for the senior side this season, which would appear to leave the opportunity for him to step up in Frimpong and Bradley’s absence wide open.

"It’s great for Calvin where he is at the moment," Slot said a couple of weeks ago. "A half year ago, he came back to this club to the U21s.

"Everyone playing for the U21s is hoping for a chance [in the first team].

Calvin Ramsay is back in the first-team picture for Liverpool this season(Image: Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)

“It is a big chance that he is having now to come to the first team. When someone is really unlucky when the injuries he is having like we are now, there is always a player that benefits from that.”

Just as Ramsay seemed like he might be in with a shout though, there was one rather large caveat to come from Slot.

“Calvin is one of them. He is with us, but I still think I have better options to play,” he added.

“The moment I am running out of options, he showed in the one game that he played against Palace, and the moments he trained with us, that he is good enough to be in and around our players, and then you have to wait for a chance to show this to the rest of the world.

“But at this moment in time, I have, in options, still better options than him.”

That’s a rather blunt way for the Liverpool boss to seemingly dismiss Ramsay’s chances of getting back in the first-team picture. But then, those options that Slot mentions are rapidly running out.

Wataru Endo had to fill on the right against Qarabag, and as much as the Japanese international is a fan favorite, even his biggest supporter probably wouldn’t be too thrilled to see him there in upcoming games against Newcastle and Manchester City.

Dominik Szoboszlai and Curtis Jones have both filled in at right-back this season, but limiting the options in midfield doesn’t feel like a recipe for success, and Szoboszlai in particular has shown this season why he’s needed in the engine room.

So then, we come back to Ramsay. As Slot said, he didn’t do himself any harm in his one appearance for the first-team this season, even if it did end in a 3-0 defeat to Crystal Palace in the Carabao Cup.

The Liverpool boss might still need some convincing, but Ramsay’s opportunity surely has to be close now.