A selection headache that was partly self-made

Andoni Iraola could find himself with as few as 15 senior outfield players available for Wednesday's Champions League trip to LASK in Austria, and the situation is as much a consequence of squad registration decisions as it is a run of bad luck. Giovanni Leoni, Conor Bradley and Hugo Ekitike were already sidelined before a ball was kicked in the league phase. Then the expanded international break in September and October swallowed up Alexander Isak, Cody Gakpo and Dominik Szoboszlai, with Iraola admitting after Sunday's defeat to Manchester City that it would be a surprise if any of the trio recovered in time to travel.

That would be a difficult enough picture on its own. But Liverpool's options are squeezed further still by the fact that neither Federico Chiesa nor Wataru Endo was registered in the club's 25-man Champions League squad for the first half of this season's tournament. Their absence from the list was a choice, not an oversight, and it is one that is now coming back to bite.

Why Ekitike's inclusion complicated things

Iraola chose to include the injured Ekitike in the squad instead, banking on the Frenchman being available for Liverpool's final two league phase games in January. Speaking last month, the manager explained the logic clearly enough: "We had a meeting with the medical department to analyse when we completed the [squad] list for the European games. There is a reasonable chance that he could help us in the last two games of the group stages. But it's still very early to say. It's very early because it's a long-term injury [and] a big part of the rehab [he] is still to meet. But if we decide to put him there, it is because there is a hope and there is a realistic chance that he could help us in January."

Looking that far ahead was a reasonable gamble at the time. The problem is that planning for January has inadvertently left the squad light for now, particularly in attack, where the absences of Isak and Gakpo are felt most sharply. Youngsters including Luke Chambers, Isaac Mabaya, Wellity Lucky, James McConnell and Jayden Danns could be called upon to bulk out the travelling party, but that is far from the depth Iraola would want going into a European fixture.

The UEFA loophole Liverpool probably won't use

There is technically a route out of this. UEFA's registration rules, amended on the eve of last year's tournament, allow clubs to make one squad change during the league phase when a player is ruled out for at least 60 days. Liverpool used precisely that provision last season when Leoni's ACL injury opened the door for Chiesa to be called up. The same rule could, in principle, apply to Ekitike now, allowing a replacement to be registered in his place.

The catch is obvious. Using the loophole to cover a short-term shortage means sacrificing the one card Iraola is holding for January. Unless Isak, Gakpo or Szoboszlai are formally ruled out for two months or more, that trade-off is the only mechanism available, and the manager's own words suggest the trio have avoided the worst. For now, Liverpool will most likely head to Austria with what they have, hope the youngsters contribute where needed, and trust that the senior players who are available can do enough. What happens when the squad is at full strength is a far more exciting question.