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Who will Dalglish replace this injured Star with?

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It used to be highly fashionable to slag off Lucas Leiva and everyone did it. Whether he was pulling on the yellow and blue of Brazil or the red of Liverpool, Lucas Leiva was the fan’s whipping boy. However, the anchor-man of Liverpool’s midfield was dealt a cruel blow on Thursday 1st December when his fears over his anterior cruciate ligament were confirmed.

The tireless workhorse that makes Dirk Kuyt look lazy is set to be out for six months and has effectively been ruled out of the rest of the Premier League season with the unfortunate news of his injury coming at an unfortunate time for King Kenny. Dalglish will have to act quick, and he already has to an extent; Jonjo Shelvey has been recalled from his loan at Blackpool and Jay Spearing and Jordan Henderson are ready made replacements. However, Lucas Leiva has been vital for Liverpool since his move to the Merseyside from Gremio, picking up two player of the year awards along the way; the young player of the year and the full award.

If an injury could come at a “right” time for someone, it kind of has in a strange way. Although Lucas, as The Times’ Ben Smith pointed out, “would’ve been better off breaking his leg,” injury-wise, the injury has no doubt emphasized his value to the club that hasn’t always appreciated him; or at least not all fans have. His form this season is arguably the best he has had and it had led to some boo-boys turning their heads and taking note of the superb job the Brazilian does in the middle of the park. Replacing him will be no easy feat and until January, Dalglish will have to plug the gap with one of his own.

Measuring up to the man is trying to step into the shoes of Sir Alex Ferguson when he retires. No, really. When Lucas plays, Liverpool have a win ratio of 48% and when Lucas doesn’t, Liverpool rarely win. In fact, when the hardworking centre midfielder is not starting, Liverpool’s win ratio drops by nearly 20% to 29%. Furthermore, the hard-hitting tenacious midfielder has made more tackles than any other Premier League player this season, averaging 5.67 per game, making 68 to date. That isn’t surprising either when you consider that he finished last season with more tackles to his name than any other player, making 8 against Manchester City back in April and averaging a tackle every 18 minutes of play throughout the season; a rate quicker than any other. In his position, he truly is unrivaled in the Premier League.

One possible solution for Dalglish’s midfield vacancy is Jonjo Shelvey. Although matching a player who regularly tops the most tackles made and the most passes made per game charts is hard, Shelvey has spent the first part of this season cutting his teeth in the Championship with Blackpool and has impressed too. “Obviously this is a setback to us as Jonjo has done ever so well in his short time with us, we will be in regular contact with Liverpool about trying to bring him back in January,” said The Tangerines boss Ian Holloway.

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Budding Football journalist who blogs at www.maycauseoffence.com/ daily as well as writing here for ThisisFutbol and on www.onehellofabeating.com/ the England fan's page. Outside of writing is more football. I work at Southampton F.C and I manage a men's football team on Saturdays.