Liverpool heads into City clash with three fitness doubts after FIFA break

The week couldn't have gotten more complicated for Liverpool right before hosting Manchester City. Between injuries picked up during the FIFA break and nagging issues that still haven't been fully resolved, the team heads into Sunday with more questions than answers in several key positions.

The most worrying case is Jeremy Jacquet. The 21 year old center back was left out of France's squad for the 4-1 win over Belgium in the Nations League, after having played the previous two matches with the national team. The French Football Federation cited a "strain in the left hamstring," while Zinedine Zidane was brief when asked about it at his post match press conference.

He's slightly injured.Zinedine Zidane

Jacquet had become a fixture for Andoni Iraola, playing in all seven of Liverpool's matches this season and starting six of them alongside Virgil van Dijk at the heart of the defense. If his absence is confirmed, the manager will have to turn to the alternatives on his roster, like Barcelona loanee Ronald Araujo or Joe Gomez, two experienced names who haven't been playing with the same regularity.

The attack isn't resting easy either

If the defensive issue wasn't headache enough, things don't look much better up front. Alexander Isak was sent back to Liverpool after playing just one match with Sweden, due to a minor thigh issue. Cody Gakpo's case is a bit more concerning: the Dutchman injured his ankle on international duty with the Netherlands, and his availability for the City match is genuinely in doubt.

Looking at it plainly, Iraola could go into the match with two of his offensive reference points out of action and a starting defender sidelined. Not an easy spot to be in right as City comes to town, arriving at Anfield in a peculiar context, playing their first match since an independent commission found them guilty on the vast majority of charges related to financial rule breaches.

Facing this scenario, the manager is already thinking about emergency solutions. Bradley Barcola, the summer signing, could be forced to play in a more central role despite being more comfortable out wide. Another option involves pushing Florian Wirtz forward from his usual attacking midfield spot into more of a focal point up top.

With Jacquet's status up in the air, Isak just back from international duty and Gakpo nursing a sore ankle, Liverpool will have to improvise for a match that already carried plenty of weight on its own.