By Karl Matchett.
Liverpool picked up an impressive and important first leg victory in the Capital One Cup at Stoke City on Tuesday night, winning 1-0 thanks to Jordon Ibe's first-half goal-but the success came at a cost, with three players suffering hamstring injuries on the night.
Philippe Coutinho went off injured in the first half and Dejan Lovren followed him shortly afterward, leaving Lucas Leiva having to fill in alongside Kolo Toure at centre-back-and Toure himself hobbled toward full time after suffering severe cramp in his hamstring. With Martin Skrtel sidelined with the same issue, Mamadou Sakho also sidelined and Joe Gomez out for the season, the Reds are down to just one mostly-fit veteran centre-back as they head into a run of five games in 18 days.
With that in mind, manager Jurgen Klopp has admitted he may need to look for defensive