The Slovakian international recently saw his country qualify for Euro 16, and he was a vital character in their bid for success, but just how vital is he to Liverpool?

Martin Skrtel is one of the talking points from Liverpool’s clash with Tottenham at the weekend, after putting in quite a dire performance for the Reds.

Liverpool's number 37 has never been truly reliable face, and now with the appointment of Klopp - could we see a fresh face in defence? Skrtel has started all nine of Liverpool's Premier League games this season, playing every minute so far this campaign.

Within those nine appearances the defender made one defensive error leading to chance on goal. Skrtel has an average of 65% duels won across those nine games, which is third highest in the squad and the highest for any defender. Aswell as this, he has committed just seven fouls across those games which is unusual going by his track record so he has kept it cleaner than previous seasons, so far. He still remains a tough tackling centre half although at times is a victim of his own downfall.

He's been a mainstay on L4 for years

Martin has been at the heart of the Reds' defence for numerous years and has been very important in some previous campaign’s, Skrtel was the scorer in the Capital One Cup Final win over Cardiff City and was crucial in the memorable 13/14 season where he managed to find the back of the net on seven occasions.

In the current circumstances Liverpool find themselves in a position where they may be unable to drop Skrtel from the starting XI. With Dejan Lovren just coming back from injury, Joe Gomez out for the rest of the season and Thiago Ilori out on loan they do not have any other options to play over him. It seems as though Mamadou Sakho will stay first choice under Klopp and rightfully so, with just Skrtel under pressure. The only other option would be to move Emre Can into centre back, but with little experience in a position he isn’t used to, you can’t see Klopp going for this.

Could a replacement be found in January?

The question still remains as to whether Skrtel should remain in the starting line-up for Liverpool, if Klopp was to bring in a fresh face to play in defence in the January transfer window there could be a possibility that the Slovakian may find himself sitting on the bench, but for now I think it’s clear he won’t be going anywhere.

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