Liverpool have been left short at centre-back after Joe Gomez was forced off injured just eight minutes into new head coach Andoni Iraola's first game in charge, against Sunderland. With summer signings Jeremy Jacquet and Giovanni Leoni still not match-fit, the club were left fielding two teenage academy prospects for most of the match, exposing a lack of experienced cover at the heart of defence that Iraola had already flagged as "very thin" before the injury occurred.

Gomez, Liverpool's longest-serving player, has now missed 225 games through injury since joining from Charlton in 2015, and an update on this latest setback is expected this week. That leaves Virgil van Dijk, 35, as the only fit senior centre-back, with both he and Gomez entering the final year of their contracts. Liverpool spent a combined £94.5m on Jacquet, 21, and £26m on Leoni, 19, as long-term replacements for Ibrahima Konate, who left for Real Madrid, but former striker Robbie Fowler says the club "need players" now and would not be surprised to see another centre-half signed, even though this summer's spending is expected to fall well short of last year's £450m outlay.