Pep Lijnders has insisted Liverpool aren’t over-reliant on Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane.
The Reds are currently without the attacking duo and Naby Keita, who are all taking part in the Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon.
Mane and Keita helped Senegal and Guinea progress to the knockout stages on Tuesday, while Salah will be hoping to join them when Egypt when the Pharaohs take on Sudan on Wednesday night.
Having missed the Reds' FA Cup win over Shrewsbury Town, League Cup draw with Arsenal and Premier League victory over Brentford last week, the trio will be absent for at least Liverpool’s next two matches as they face the Gunners at the Emirates in their League Cup semi-final second leg on Thursday before travelling to Crystal Palace.
Speaking ahead of the trip to North London, Lijnders admitted Jurgen Klopp’s squad do miss the trio when making a point of highlighting Keita’s importance.
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However, he also praised how the Reds have adapted under the German’s watch to ensure they remain a threat even without the services of Salah and Mane.
“First of all we miss three players with AFCON,” Lijnders pointed out to reporters. “Everybody forgets Naby.
“Naby two times was the best player for Guinea and last game he scored. We miss him as well. People forget this.
“We did it (won without Salah and Mane) before. We had one of the most memorable games we played I think was without a few of them. It’s not about that.
“When we have our squad, especially after last year, we knew we needed to create different weapons.
“We needed to create goals from everywhere, last passes from everywhere, dribbles from everywhere, attacks from everywhere.
“Not just based on counter-attack and the speed of these two boys. They are our phase, they are out front line and give us so much direction in our game.
“But what I like is that we don’t have one weapon. We have so many different ways to attack.
“How we are evolving as a team and how we are developing with our positional game is important and I really like it.”
