Adam Lallana to Miss Out On Southampton Trip

Liverpool were this close to making it through international break without injury, but Adam Lallana was forced to come off early for England in the first half of the friendly against Spain. There was an outside hope that Lallana would be able to recover in time to make the trip to Southampton this weekend, but James Pearce dashed those hopes this morning in The Echo.

Lallana was no doubt looking forward to playing his former club, but I guess Nathaniel Clyne, Sadio Mané, and Dejan Lovren will have to make up for him. The 28-year-old midfielder’s absence is a significant one. He has contributed 3 goals and 5 assists in League action for the Reds this campaign.

The injury seems to be a repeat of the groin injury he suffered just prior to the last international break which kept him out of the England side, and kept him sidelined for the first hour of the derby against Manchester United. The match against United, it must be noted, was the only time Liverpool failed to win a game in the last ten matches in all competitions. It was also only the second time this season a team managed to prevent Liverpool’s dangerous attack from scoring.

Georginio Wijnaldum is the likeliest candidate to fill Lallana’s important role. The Dutch international will be looking to put in a strong performance to earn back his starting spot from Emre Can.

The good news is that Lallana should be able to return to action next week when the Reds host Sunderland.