Liverpool’s bright centre-back future could shine vs Milan

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Liverpool could well show off their very bright future at centre-back with two season debuts against AC Milan today. The Reds could be comfortable for a long time to come.

Jurgen Klopp went through last season without any senior centre-backs. He called on the likes of Nat Phillips and Rhys Williams to end the season, of course.

This time around, however, the Liverpool boss has four senior players as options – but we’ve only seen two. Klopp has stuck with Virgil van Dijk and Joel Matip for the opening four games.

But perhaps that will change against AC Milan tonight. Liverpool go into this after an intense game against Leeds United, with Van Dijk having played for the Netherlands over the international break, too.

Rest and rotation may be on the cards and that would give Klopp a chance to show off Liverpool’s future at centre-back.

Liverpool’s centre-back future

Neither Joe Gomez nor Ibrahima Konate have featured so far. The pair are almost certainly Liverpool’s future however – and a very bright future at that.

Gomez, presuming he’ll recover from injury, is still only 24 but helped Liverpool waltz to a Premier League title. He’s a champion, a regular player, and a fantastic centre-back.

Gomez should become a star over the next few years and looks set to lead Liverpool’s defence long-term.

Then there’s Konate. The £36m signing is just 22 but proven at Bundesliga and Premier League level. His future is incredibly bright if Liverpool can integrate him as a centre-back properly.

And with Van Dijk and Matip both being 30, Gomez and Konate should take over in seasons to come. The latter pairing is the clear future for Liverpool.

Perhaps, then, we’ll see it in a competitive game for the first time today, then. Liverpool may not get a better chance to show it off.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic misses the game, after all, leaving Milan a little less lethal than they could be. The game will still have a lot of intensity to it, however, and that might make it the right time to blood Gomez and Konate.

Throw them into a big game against blunted opposition. Rest the first-choice pairing in the process. It feels like the ideal way to see how close Liverpool’s future centre-back pairing is to realising that huge potential.