Jurgen Klopp's most obvious Liverpool decision just keeps getting more difficult

After another dominant defensive display during Wednesday's 2-0 Champions League semi-final victory over Villarreal, things couldn’t have been more different to last year for Liverpool. In the same competition, the Reds meekly exited 3-1 on aggregate at the quarter-final stage to Real Madrid.

In both legs they had Nathaniel Phillips and Ozan Kabak at centre-back, symptomatic of the nightmare campaign injury wise it was for Liverpool’s defenders. Across the season, they tried 20 different centre-back partnerships as they battled with the worst injury crisis in Jurgen Klopp’s tenure at Anfield and struggled with form.

Wednesday’s victory was poignant as it was another dominant display from £35m summer signing Ibrahima Konate. Liverpool now arguably have the best centre-back options of any European club. Along with Konate, Virgil van Dijk has been his sensational self this season after recovering from a serious knee injury. Joel Matip is in the form of his life and Joe Gomez, who looked to be England’s future before his serious injury last season, is further in reserve.

This is a far cry from relying on Phillips, Kabak and Rhys Williams. They made 52 appearances between them last season. This was in comparison to Matip, Van Dijk and Gomez appearing just 32 times. Their defensive struggles were evident as the club conceded 42 goals in the league. This was compared to 22 in 2018/19 and 32 in 2019/20.

With Van Dijk a cert, and Liverpool facing potentially two finals and five huge Premier League games over the next month, Klopp has a huge decision to make on who to partner the Dutchman with. Prize money for winning the Champions League, Premier League and FA Cup totals £172m so it is not one the German can take lightly.

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