Could Liverpool prospect make PL debut after being photographed training?

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Just a couple of minutes into the second half at Villa Park, Jamie Carragher’s patience finally snapped.

“He’s got to come off’,” the Liverpool legend blustered in the direction of a man who had just compounded perhaps his worst ever Reds performance with another errant pass.

Moments later, Joe Gomez’s miserable afternoon was over, put out of his misery by Jurgen Klopp as the Premier League champions collapsed to a 7-2 defeat that will be talked about in the Midlands and on Merseyside until the end of time.

That stunning collapse away at Aston Villa was not the first time Gomez has looked a little lost this season either.

Arguably England’s only elite-level central defender, the 2019 Champions League winner was whipped into a frenzy by Marcelo Bielsa’s perpetual motion machine on opening day and, if Alexandre Lacazette had donned his shooting boots in the second half, Liverpool could have easily conceded another three against Arsenal too.

So, with Gomez seemingly enduring something of a crisis of form, Dejan Lovren gone and Joel Matip lacking match sharpness, another Liverpool defender might never have a better chance to make his mark in the Premier League.

Nat Phillips was front and centre of the midweek training pictures posted on Liverpool’s official website and, while the 23-year-old is hardly proven at the top level, he does have a rather impressive track record against Saturday’s opponents – pacesetters Everton.

Phillips’ one and only Liverpool appearance came against the Toffees after all and the Bolton-born player certainly made his mark, keeping Richarlison and Dominic Calvert-Lewin off the scoresheet in a 1-0 FA Cup third round triumph back in January.

Standing at 6ft 3ins, Phillips might lack Gomez’s elegance but his sheer size and rock-solid physique perhaps make him a more suitable opponent for Everton’s ‘Big Dunc’-inspired number nine.

The dilemma, then, is Klopp’s to figure out. Does he keep faith with a once-reliable foot soldier; one who may be suffering from a nasty case of shellshock? Or does he throw an unproven but hungry alternative into the fight in the hope that he might just thrive?