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When Liverpool labored to a 4-2 win in extra time over Notts County in the Capital One Cup, there was less talk about the result and more about the residual impact, which saw Aly Cissokho--making only his second appearance in a Liverpool shirt--succumb to injury along with Joe Allen and Kolo Toure. Each would miss significant portions of the fall, and while the club didn't suffer too badly in their respective absences, the victory proved a hollow one, especially with Liverpool losing 1-0 at Old Trafford a month later.
Yesterday's win over Oldham wasn't quite as costly, but with Daniel Agger limping off with a calf problem, it might prove to be another costly injury in a cup competition, especially given the loss of Mamadou Sakho at Chelsea. The nature of the concern was unclear immediately after the match, but Brendan Rodgers commented that "it's too early [to tell] yet. It looked like his calf had cramped up. We're just waiting and we'll probably know a wee bit more tomorrow."
The loss of Sakho means the club will be without arguably their best defender into March, and with Agger's future uncertain, Liverpool's deepest position to start the season now looks threadbare for the indefinite future. Rodgers started the season with Agger, Toure, Martin Skrtel, Martin Kelly, and Andre Wisdom in the depth chart, and the additions of Sakho and Tiago Ilori only served to bolster the ranks. As it stands today, however, Agger and Sakho are hurt, Wisdom's on loan, Kelly only just completed his first 90 minutes of the season (as a fullback, nonetheless), and Ilori hasn't made a competitive appearance for the senior squad and might be set for a loan of his own.
Ideally Agger's setback proves to be just a cramp, and he'll be back to partner one of Skrtel or Toure when Liverpool travel to Stoke next weekend. Given his history, though, it's hard to be too optimistic, and we might be better served to just be thankful that it's not Toure and Skrtel injured, which would leave us with the catastrophic reality of forcing two left-footed humans trying to accomplish something together.
