Liverpool’s defensive crisis has worsened in their FA Cup game against Wolves as with just two minutes gone, Dejan Lovren was substituted after struggling with an injury in the opening seconds of the game. Lovren was the only senior centre-back included in the squad with Virgil Van Dijk left out with a small problem.
Klopp said on the Dutch defender: "Virgil cannot play; he is at home and hopefully it is nothing, but he has played all the games so far, so we had to try to find a solution for that – and we found it, hopefully, with Fabinho.”
It was the versatile Fabinho who lined up alongside Lovren in the centre-back position and was soon the experienced man at the back as the Croatian was taken off. On in his place was Liverpool’s youngest ever FA Cup players, 16-year-old Ki-Jana Hoever, who would not have been expecting quite the early start when he was named on the bench today.
He was born in 2002, the same year captain James Milner made his professional debut and Liverpool fans were supportive of the man who had come on for his debut. Lovren, on the other hand, did not receive quite the same sympathy from the Reds’ faithful.
“16 years old? It’ll be an improvement on Lovren…” one fan commented whilst another said: “It was a blessing in disguise because Lovren is a liability.”
Liverpool are of course fighting for the Premier League title and are still involved in the Champions League knockout stages as well as the FA Cup. Lovren's injury is yet to be assessed but having no fit centre-backs could throw their whole season off course!
On the other hand, Ki Jana can prove himself, this was a sign