Adam Lallana Injured On International Duty

Happy international break, everyone!

It’s being reported by the ECHO that Adam Lallana will spend up to four weeks on the sidelines after sustaining a thigh injury while representing England. Lallana played 66 minutes against Germany on Wednesday, followed by the full 90 minutes in England’s World Cup qualifier against Lithuania.

Nathaniel Clyne, another player representing England, returned to Melwood for training on Monday, but Lallana was not in attendance.

While four weeks appears to be an estimate, if accurate, that would mean that Lallana would next be in contention to play for Liverpool against Watford on May 1st, and would likely miss matches against Everton, Bournemouth, Stoke, West Brom, and Crystal Palace.

Considering there’s only nine games left in this season, and top four is still very much a possibility, losing a player of Lallana’s importance for half of those matches would be a huge blow.

Despite some uncertainty over the exact time frame of Lallana’s recovery, what’s all but certain is that he will not be available to play in the Merseyside derby on Saturday. This, unfortunately, puts him in some good company watching from the sidelines along with Daniel Sturridge and, possibly, best bud Jordan Henderson.

Without both Henderson and Lallana, Liverpool’s midfield starts to look a little sparse. Emre Can and Georginio Wijnaldum will both be in there, and we may see Lucas Leiva return to his previous role as a defensive midfielder. If nothing else, after ten seasons with the team, Lucas is always up for the derby.