Real Madrid will be travelling to Anfield to take on Liverpool but they will have to face a buoyant Liverpool team without Vinicius Jr in their team.
Vinicius Jr played as a centre-forward at the weekend and the fans were waiting to see him in the same role on Wednesday as well. However, the club has now confirmed that the Brazilian international has picked up a thigh issue and will be out of action for a few weeks.
The official statement said: “Following tests carried out today by the Real Madrid Medical Services on our player Vini Jr., he has been diagnosed with an injury to the biceps femoris in his left leg. His progress will be monitored.”
How will the Real Madrid manager replace Vinicius Jr?
This is a massive headache for Carlo Ancelotti who is already dealing with injuries to key players like Rodrygo, Carvajal and Eder Militao. To make matters worse, Kylian Mbappe has made a rough start to life in Spain.
Against Leganes, Mbappe was shifted to his more favoured position on the left wing and despite the injury to Vinicius Jr, Ancelotti will most likely stick to the same plan.
Mbappe had a positive impact playing on the left-hand side and his manager is not going to bring him back to the centre-forward position against Liverpool.
The injury to Vinicius Jr will be good news for Brahim Diaz who is now expected to get a rare start. Diaz has struggled to get game time for Real Madrid but he has been scoring a lot of goals for Morrocco and Carlo will hope he can replicate a similar form at Anfield.
The manager also has the option to use young Endrick up top but he will most certainly go with the more experienced Brahim Diaz.
Vinicius Jr has made 13 goal contributions in as many league appearances plus he’s also scored 4 goals in the UCL. It will be impossible to replace his talent and impact on the pitch and we have a strong feeling that Madrid will have a tough time against Liverpool.
Arne Slot’s side are undefeated in their previous 14 matches and since they are sitting at the top of the UCL table, Liverpool will play with little to no pressure. Not only will Ancelotti will have to worry about naming a stable forward trio but at the same time he will have to keep his fingers crossed in hopes that Rudiger and co can keep Salah and Luis Diaz at bay.
