Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool side are flying high, impressing domestically and in European competition — but not everybody in the squad has enjoyed a perfect season.
In a campaign where the stars of the team have been among the finest performers in the entire Continent in their respective positions, a handful have instead struggled: absences enforced by injury, being out of favour or otherwise being unable to make their mark, in the same way the likes of Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino have done.
Both those two will be going to the FIFA World Cup this summer and hoping to play a pivotal role for their respective nations, but the same cannot yet be said of all the potential Reds travellers to Russia.
Here are seven still fighting for a place on the plane and hoping to impress over the final weeks of the season—including a couple out on loan.
Adam Lallana
A year is a long time in football, and for Lallana it’s all-change on the international scene.
He was the nation’s best performer in 2016 in an England shirt, a regular under Gareth Southgate and looking like a key starter for the World Cup—but injury has ruined his 17/18 campaign and he’s in danger of not even making the 23.
A long-awaited return to regular action for the Reds was cut short when he pulled up with a hamstring injury shortly after coming on as sub against Crystal Palace, ruling him out of much of the run-in.
Klopp is hopeful he’ll play a part before season’s end, but he’ll need a big impact to prove he merits a place in the squad having played barely 400 minutes this term.
Emre Can
Another who would normally be a guaranteed member of the squad, Emre Can is an important and versatile performer for Germany, filling both full-back and his more natural central midfield role over the past couple of years.
He might not be a starter, but even a sub role would speak volumes of his ability given the outrageous strength and depth that Die Mannschaft can boast.
Even that is in doubt now though; Can has suffered with a back injury for the past few weeks, which flared up on international duty and looks set to cost him a place in Liverpool’s run-in.
They could do with him back, but if he doesn’t play again it could be his Reds career over in frustratingly quiet fashion—and he’d likely miss the final in Russia too.
Joe Gomez
Inexperienced, but impressive all season and versatile with his ability to play right the way across the defensive line: Gomez clearly caught the eye of Southgate with England and his man of the match performance against Brazil and Neymar put him in with a chance of making the squad.
Starting on the left of three centre-backs in England’s last international break should have been a chance to solidify his spot, but Gomez left the field injured early on and hasn’t featured since.
A couple of games might be enough to showcase his fitness at the end of the season, but it’ll still require a measure of trust from the national team boss to take him ahead of other, older options.
Daniel Sturridge
There’s no question that Sturridge would be in the England squad if he were fit; the problem is, he’s rarely in that category.
The striker has played just 500 Premier League minutes this season, with less than 80 of those coming since his January loan move to West Brom.
There — you guessed it — he’s been injured since mid-February, leaving Sturridge without a league goal since late October.
Striking options aren’t plentiful for Southgate, but can he afford to gamble on the goal Sturridge might bring against the likelihood he’ll be available throughout the tournament?
Divock Origi
Another striker struggling for confidence out on loan is Belgian forward Origi.
He’s up against Christian Benteke, Dries Mertens, Michy Batshuayi and Romelu Lukaku for the striker spots; it’s possible Roberto Martinez could take all five, but two of those options have been woeful this term.
Origi has just five Bundesliga goals at Wolfsburg and was recently subbed off before half-time thanks to an atrocious performance; he needs a big end to the season not just to make the World Cup, but perhaps to stimulate interest in him ahead of a probable summer move.
Lazar Markovic
It’s now over one year since Lazar Markovic even made the Serbia squad, such has been his fall after a series of unimpressive loan spells.
He is finally back on the pitch at club level, on loan at Anderlecht after being frozen out by Klopp, but he has an almighty task on to impress enough in limited game time to be handed a recall to the national team.
Nathaniel Clyne
Finally, it’s next to impossible for Nathaniel Clyne to feature enough to warrant a call-up for England after only having made his return to action this past week after missing the entire season.
That said, it only takes an unfortunate injury elsewhere and a spot could open up; Clyne is experienced enough to rely on that Southgate could call him up on short notice, but he still needs a few good games to even be regarded as the go-to back-up option.
