Liverpool face a defensive crisis for the upcoming clash against Brighton on Saturday.

The Reds lost Dejan Lovren to a hamstring injury against Wolves in the FA Cup and is unlikely to recover for the weekend’s game, according to the Liverpool Echo.

The Croatian pulled up after a few minutes at Molineux and was replaced by Ki-Jana Hoever. The report adds that there is no timescale for the defender’s return, but the Reds are hopeful the injury is not serious and Lovren can return soon.

This leaves us with Virgil van Dijk as a fit senior centre-back and Jurgen Klopp would have to mix things up at the back for the weekend’s game.

Fabinho partnered Lovren against Wolves in our FA Cup defeat, and Georginio Wijnaldum has also played in a three-man defence last year.

The report adds that Joe Gomez is still some way from returning to the Liverpool team, but Joel Matip should be close to fitness. However, the Cameroon defender will not be able to face Brighton at the weekend.

Jurgen Klopp has stated that he is not looking to add central defenders in the January window.

The Reds don’t have a packed schedule due to their elimination from the domestic cups. We have Crystal Palace after the trip to Brighton, a week from Saturday, and then we play Leicester City on 30 January.

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The Reds even have a 10-day gap between the games against Bournemouth and Bayern Munich at the start of February, and we should see some of our injured stars return by then.