Heated rival names five Liverpool players who cannot be replaced

Ahead of Liverpool’s Champions League semi-final second-leg clash with Barcelona, former heated revival, Manchester United legend Gary Neville, has named five players the Reds could not be without.

Speaking on Sky Sports’ Monday Night Football, Neville said: “Liverpool’s squad depth has been criticised all season. The likelihood for me is that if Liverpool had suffered with injuries, they would have struggled.

“[Mohamed] Salah, [Roberto] Firmino and [Sadio] Mane have been almost ever-present. So have [Virgil] van Dijk and Alisson. Those are the five players that I call irreplaceable at Liverpool.

“If any of those had been injured for long periods, I think Liverpool would have struggled.”

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Liverpool are arguably the unluckiest side of the modern generation. While they still may clinch the Premier League title on the last day of the season, they have developed somewhat of a reputation for falling short at the final hurdle in recent years.

That being said, they have been in form all season and managed to maintain a good level of consistency.

The Reds are arguably currently the strongest that they have been since the inception of the Premier League in 1992. They impressed last season as they went on to reach the final of the Champions League before losing against Real Madrid. They did, however, experience defensive woes last term with the backline looking fragile, but that has since been rectified following the acquisition of Virgil Van Dijk and Alisson Becker.

The Reds would likely have already been crowned league champions had the current side been playing in any other season other than the current one. They are rather unlucky to be playing in the same time period as the current Manchester City side, led by Pep Guardiola. Tonight, they will have to fight for their lives if they are to stay in the Champions League, with a 0-3 deficit to overcome against Barcelona.