Liverpool cannot afford to lose Virgil van Dijk or Roberto Firmino to injury during their hunt for a first Premier League title, claims former Reds midfielder Don Hutchison.
Liverpool’s nearest title rivals Manchester City are without star centre-back Aymeric Laporte until January at the earliest due to injury.
But Hutchison says Jurgen Klopp’s side cannot afford to have major injuries themselves.
“You look at what Man City are doing and the injuries that they’ve got with John Stones and Laporte etc. – Liverpool are only a couple of injuries away,” he told ESPN FC.
“I’m talking, in my opinion, but I think you take Van Dijk out of that side and Roberto Firmino, the side doesn’t function without Firmino going forward.
“So it’s vitally important that they stay away from injuries.”
Liverpool are currently five points clear of City at the top of the Premier League table.
But Hutchison does not yet rate them as clear favourites.
“I got asked the question the other day – ‘are Liverpool favourites for the league?’,” he added.
“And I was racking my brains thinking ‘right, what does the number need to be? How far do Liverpool need to be in front before we then consider them being favourites?’.
“At the moment the number’s five, they’re five in front of Man City.
“There was a point last season where it was seven and they still weren’t favourites.
“So I’m sort of thinking Liverpool need to just keep going, just keep their foot to the floor.
“They are European champions now so they’ve got that arrogance now where they’re swatting teams away for fun.
“If they get that number in a hurry in the next couple of weeks to eight and 10 [points] and then they play Man City in November, that’s the big one.
“Because at the minute I’m watching Liverpool and thinking ‘no one beats them at the moment, they’re too strong’.”
