Martin Skrtel Injury vs. Blackburn Underlines Liverpool's Defensive Dilemma

ANFIELD — Liverpool were held to a goalless draw by Championship opposition for the second round in a row in the FA Cup after failing to break down Blackburn Rovers, just as they failed against Bolton in the fifth round.

Liverpool looked tired, lacked invention and were unable to find a way past a Blackburn side content to hold on for the replay back at Ewood Park.

Brendan Rodgers made two changes to the side pre-match, with Glen Johnson replacing the injured Joe Allen, Emre Can moving into midfield and Lazar Markovic replacing Alberto Moreno.

Raheem Sterling moved to the left side, though, and the injury to Martin Skrtel after just two minutes meant that Kolo Toure came into defence, leaving the Reds far from their usually fluid XI.

Skrtel, a key man for Liverpool recently and much-improved at the centre of the three, fell awkwardly and suffered a concussion. He was stretchered off in a neck brace after eight minutes' delay.

Jon Super/Associated Press

Skrtel's injury meant that Liverpool's defence, which has been built around a back three of Can, Skrtel and Mamadou Sakho, was replaced one consisting of Johnson, Toure and Dejan Lovren.

Defence

Without Can, Skrtel and Sakho, Liverpool's defensive trio struggled to play out from the back.

Lovren gained composure as the game progressed but was extremely haphazard in the first 45 minutes. Johnson was slow in possession.

With Liverpool lacking the two ball-playing outside centre-backs, Can and Sakho, Blackburn were able to resolutely defend and comfortably block the spaces into midfield.

"

Back 3 look lost and none of Sakho, Emre or Skrtel are playing in it. Poor combination of defenders.

— MrBoywunder (@MrBoywunder) March 8, 2015"

Earlier this week, The Guardian's Andy Hunter noted that the first time the Reds had tried Rodgers' new 3-4-2-1 formation was actually in a league match at Newcastle back in November—a match they lost 1-0.

That game saw a back three of Johnson, Skrtel and Lovren, with Lovren struggling when dragged out wide and Johnson struggling for positioning—eventually it was he who lost the ball high up the pitch for Newcastle to counter for their winning goal.

Jon Super/Associated Press

Rodgers was forced into moving Can into midfield due to Joe Allen's injury in training on Saturday, and Lucas Leiva and Steven Gerrard were sidelined. But the German under-21 international is arguably needed more in defence than midfield. He adds more to the side from the right centre-back position, playing out from the back expertly.

"

The 343 with Johnson/Lovren just not the same. Its Emre/Sakho in the back 3 that really make it function #lfc

— Dan Kennett (@DanKennett) March 8, 2015"

Sterling

That game also saw Sterling out wide on the right. "I learned that Raheem probably won’t be able to play wide in what I was looking to do because he’s not in the game enough," Rodgers explained to reporters this week. "He was on the side."

Michael Regan/Getty Images

It's odd then that Rodgers opted to play Sterling in that very position against Burnley then played him out wide again, this time on the left against Blackburn, leaving Alberto Moreno, who has given the side natural width on the left, as an unused substitute.

Sterling struggled to make any impact in the game and offered little threat from the wide role. Instead, his biggest contribution was defensively, as he blocked Rudy Gestede's shot in the first half.

Stalemate

Rodgers brought on Mario Balotelli in an attempt to break down the Rovers' defence, but the Italian offered little bar a frustratingly petulant 40-yard shot that threatened the upper tier of the Anfield Road End more than the Blackburn goal.

This was Liverpool's fifth 0-0 of the campaign and fourth at home, which shows their difficultly in breaking down teams that defend deep and are happy to take the draw. Blackburn left Anfield the happier of the sides, much like Bolton, Sunderland and Hull City have done previously.

Michael Regan/Getty Images

Daniel Sturridge again struggled for sharpness up front, although he was largely starved of supply, while Jordan Henderson and Philippe Coutinho couldn't maintain their excellent form for a third game within eight days after their exploits against Manchester City and Burnley.

A replay is not what Rodgers would have wanted, but at least his side are no longer in the Europa League, or else this would have been even more of a problem. The replay is currently pencilled in for April 7 or 8, a month away.

Liverpool now have eight days before their next fixture, away to Swansea City, and will use the time to recover from what has been an extremely busy three-month period of fixtures.

The Reds won't welcome a replay, but having taken six points from their other two games this week, they'll be happy with the bigger picture.

Quotes obtained firsthand unless otherwise stated.