A worrying lack of minutes for four loanees could see Liverpool take action in January, though Fabio Carvalho finds himself in a tough situation at RB Leipzig.
Though the Reds have 17 players currently out on loan, few are in place as regular starters for their clubs – with two out with long-term injuries.
But while Calvin Ramsay and Adam Lewis have explanations for their absence, the same cannot be said of Carvalho, James Balagizi, Billy Koumetio and James Norris.
The weekend’s fixtures saw all four left out by their clubs again, with Carvalho the only one to make the matchday squad at all.
He was an unused substitute as RB Leipzig won 3-1 away to Darmstadt in the Bundesliga, having so far clocked just 195 of a possible 1,080 minutes across all competitions (18.1%).
Elsewhere, Balagizi was omitted from the squad as Wigan beat Exeter 2-0 in League One, the midfielder having been overlooked for six of the last seven league games.
Koumetio was absent again for USL Dunkerque’s 3-1 loss to Paris FC in Ligue 2, with the centre-back missing four of the last five games and unused since a red card on his debut.
And Norris, who was controversially substituted minutes before half-time by former Tranmere manager Ian Dawes, has seen his peripheral role continue under interim coach Nigel Adkins.
The young left-back was left out of a 2-1 loss to Doncaster on Saturday, meaning he has not featured in the last six League Two fixtures and failed to make the squad in five of those.
It stands to reason that, if this continues, Liverpool will look to terminate the deals of Balagizi, Koumetio and Norris in January.
Carvalho would likely be a contender for an early return, too, though with Leipzig expected to have paid a sizeable loan fee to secure a season-long deal, it may prove impossible – or at least very difficult – to negotiate.
There has been considerably more game time for the likes of Sepp van den Berg, Tyler Morton and Harvey Davies, who all played 90 minutes over the weekend.
Jakub Ojrzynski, too, has recently claimed the No. 1 spot at Den Bosch in the Dutch second tier, playing the full 90 in a 2-1 loss to VVV-Venlo on Friday.
Another goalkeeper, Luke Hewitson, kept a clean sheet as Stalybridge Celtic beat Trafford 1-0, while Luca Stephenson came off the bench in Barrow’s 0-0 draw with AFC Wimbledon.
Nat Phillips was also unused as Celtic won 3-1 at Hearts on Sunday, though the centre-back was likely rested for the Champions League trip to Atletico Madrid three days later.
