After losing Trent Alexander-Arnold and Joe Gomez – half of their first-choice back four – inside the space of four days, Liverpool need to get creative.
Virgil van Dijk is already out, Fabinho is on the way back but has already missed games with a muscular injury this season, and Joel Matip’s history of staying fit is chequered to say the least.
That means that Jurgen Klopp has a decision to make over the next 11 matches – the number of games that Liverpool must play before the January transfer window opens.
Liverpool could bring in a short-term option on a free transfer, reminiscent of the emergency signing of Steven Caulker, but should they choose to go with what they have, the options are clear.
Rhys Williams and Nat Phillips have both come into the side alongside Gomez and done well, but neither are used to playing a lot of top-level football.
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Should Liverpool beat Atalanta in the Champions League in their next European fixture, that would take the pressure off the final two group matches, given the Reds would be through to the knockout phase, and playing the duo would be less of a risk.
In the Premier League, though, where every game matters, other more senior, experienced players might be preferred on anything other than a one-off basis.
As was discussed on the Liverpool.com podcast, against Leicester – as long as Matip is still fit and Fabinho is back from his problem, two things that are not certain – then they will be the centre-backs.
But they won’t be able to play 11 matches in the space of just under six weeks, whether they can stay fit in that period or not.
Should Klopp need another option to face, for instance, Wolves at the start of December, or Fulham a week later, he has options that have played there in the past that could see him field a team inspired by Barcelona.
Pep Guardiola once said he would play with a team full of central midfielders if he could, because of their ability to defend primarily by retaining possession rather than tackling or heading crosses clear.
In fact, at Barcelona, on several occasions, he played with six central midfielders in the team.
In the 2011 UEFA Super Cup, for instance, Sergio Busquets and Javier Mascherano were both converted into centre-backs. Mascherano was there initially more as a stop-gap, with Carles Puyol and Gerard Pique both out, but ended up playing there long-term.
In midfield there was Xavi Hernandez, Seydou Keita and Cesc Fabregas, with Andres Iniesta in front of them.
If Thiago Alcantara and Naby Keita are fit, and Curtis Jones also an option, Liverpool could be forced into something similar.
They could be used alongside Jordan Henderson in midfield, with James Milner at right-back and Gini Wijnaldum dropping into the defence, alongside, say Fabinho – the more durable of the Brazilian and Matip.
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Wijnaldum has played pretty much everywhere during his career, and played in a back-three against Brighton for Klopp in December 2017 when that was required.
It could well be needed again at some stage, where Liverpool could field as many as six central midfielders on the pitch as once – three in the back four and another three in their usual berths.
Klopp and Liverpool went into the season with a plethora of midfield options and only three centre-backs. We may see the ultimate result of that between now and the turn of the calendar year.
