The case for Curtis Jones starting over Thiago when Liverpool face Man City

Injuries are a painful reality but they are never an excuse. The frustrating truth is that Liverpool’s problems stretch beyond sidelined players.

Retaining the title is not impossible for Jurgen Klopp’s team but defeat on Sunday by Manchester City at Anfield would put dreams of keeping the Premier League trophy into the realms of fantasy. Realistically, the target is the top four.

The damage has been inflicted by opponents in the bottom half of the table. Draws with West Bromwich Albion and Newcastle United; defeats by Southampton, Burnley and Brighton and Hove Albion. The mad scramble at the end of the transfer window was a belated effort to find much-needed centre-backs, but leaking goals is just part of the issue. In the five disappointing results named above, Liverpool conceded just four times.

The loss of Virgil van Dijk, Joe Gomez and more recently Joel Matip disrupted the balance of the side, but against West Brom and Southampton nine of Klopp first-choices started and eight kicked off against Newcastle. Even against Burnley and Brighton, when just six regulars began the game, more might have been expected of experienced operators like Xherdan Shaqiri, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Thiago Alcantara.

It was negligent to enter the season with only three centre-backs and foolish not to address the situation in early January. It is seriously disruptive to need to play two members of a title-winning midfield trio in defence. But there should have been enough quality in the team to see off the sides from the bottom half of the table.

No one could complain if City expose all of Liverpool’s flaws on Sunday and tear the champions apart. Pep Guardiola’s side are among the best in Europe. Dropping points to teams whose gameplan is to sit deep and smother attacks – only Southampton, who were riding high at the time, employed different tactics – implies problems beyond injuries.

Thiago has not been able to settle into the Premier League at the level that was expected. The former Bayern Munich playmaker has the talent to unpick defences but has not been able to influence games. Against Brighton he was peripheral. He struggled to deal with the opposition’s press and was unable to move the defence out of their comfort zone. It was a similar story in the 3-1 victory over West Ham United on Sunday. It took Curtis Jones running at the back line to draw in defenders and create a crack that Mohamed Salah could exploit.

There is no doubting Thiago’s ability - he is a world class player - but too often he seems to be playing a different game to his teammates. An understanding should develop – such a changeable midfield has not helped anyone – but the 29-year-old so far looks like he would suit Guardiola’s methods at City rather than Klopp’s at Anfield.

Although Jones was poor against West Brom and Newcastle, he may be the better alternative when teams attempt to smother Liverpool. The failure to beat men and disrupt the shape of the defence was a characteristic of the performance against Brighton. Jones joined the game at a point when the visiting team’s rearguard was at its most dense as they fought to close out the game.

Liverpool are at their best when matches get stretched. They thrive on chaos and pace. The successes of the past two seasons have been founded on quick, diagonal balls and forcing defenders to face their own goal. This often bypasses the midfield. Salah’s second strike against West Ham was the perfect example of this. When teams can keep Liverpool in front of them, Klopp’s side struggle.

City can also strike quickly but they are much better at passing across the face of the 18-yard box and stretching well-set defences. Thiago was bought to develop this sort of approach for Liverpool.

The other question that hangs over Thiago is that he is still getting used to the pace of the game in England. He picked up two yellow cards last month and is late to the tackle too often for comfort. It is likely just a matter of time before he develops a better connection with his teammates, but he needs to get sharper in challenges.

Because of this, Jones may be a better option against City. Liverpool’s success against Guardiola’s team has been built on disrupting their passing and winning possession back before City can get it upfield. Until Thiago’s mobility improves, the league leaders are likely to pass the ball around him.

Klopp has difficult decisions to make before Sunday. There is still a huge hole at the heart of the defence, but trying to cover it has destroyed the equilibrium of the midfield and had a knock-on effect on the attack. Thiago has been thrust into an incoherent side that lacks confidence in every department. To make things worse, less talented rivals have worked out a blueprint for suffocating Liverpool.

The manager needs to find the missing balance against City. Guardiola will not care about injuries or excuses. The Catalan will see this as a chance to skewer adversaries who are genuinely disliked at the Etihad. Even that is a sideshow, though.

Points are the only things that matter. Liverpool need to start getting more of them with the players that are available to Klopp. They should be good enough to see off sides from the lower reaches of the division.

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