Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp will be without at least five players for the second leg of their Champions League last-16 tie with Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu on Wednesday.
Joe Gomez has recovered from a muscle issue, but all of Stefan Bajcetic, Calvin Ramsay, Thiago Alcantara, Jordan Henderson and Luis Diaz will be forced to sit this one out, as the Reds somehow try to reverse a 5-2 deficit from the first leg three weeks ago.
The absences of Thiago, Henderson and Bajcetic is not what the doctor ordered for Klopp, who also cannot call upon the ineligible Arthur, so a switch to an ambitious 4-2-3-1 or 4-4-2 setup could be in order as his side seek a miraculous comeback.
Should Naby Keita shake off a knock, the Guinea international will likely be the first choice to partner Fabinho centrally, but James Milner, Curtis Jones and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain are all waiting in the wings.
Harvey Elliott was taken off at half time for Diogo Jota in the loss to Bournemouth, and the Portugal international may have earned a start at the Bernabeu after adding some bite to the Reds attack on the South Coast.
Jota, Mohamed Salah, Cody Gakpo and Darwin Nunez could therefore form a fearsome quartet in the final third, while Roberto Firmino is another option in a deeper role.
Trent Alexander-Arnold will miss the first leg of any quarter-final if he is booked here, but the right-back is in no danger of dropping out, as an unchanged backline also comprises Virgil van Dijk, Andrew Robertson, Ibrahima Konate and Alisson Becker.
Liverpool possible starting lineup: Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Konate, Van Dijk, Robertson; Fabinho, Keita; Salah, Jota, Nunez; Gakpo
> Click here to see how Real Madrid could line up for the second leg
Ben Knapton
