International Breaks Wreaking Havoc on Liverpool: Lazar Markovic Injured

A month ago, Joe Allen, Emre Can, and Daniel Sturridge were all injured playing for their countries. We've already seen Dejan Lovren go down playing for Croatia in this international break, and now Lazar Markovic has become the latest Red to suffer an injury on international duty. Markovic was subbed out of Serbia's 1-1 draw with Armenia after just 25 minutes on Saturday, and it's being reported that he may have torn an abdominal muscle, which could keep him out for a month or more.

This injury presents a huge setback for Markovic. After impressing in his first couple of appearances for Liverpool, he started to really struggle to find his form. This injury will further delay his attempts to prove he was worth the large price Liverpool paid for him. Even worse, it leaves Sterling as the only winger in the squad that is healthy. It will be interesting to see if maybe this gives Jordan Ibe a chance to break into the team. He had a strong preseason, and it seemed like the new depth was the only thing keeping him out of the squad to start the year.

While the Markovic injury alone is unfortunate, adding it to all of the other injuries presents Liverpool with a huge problem. We were all so excited about all of the players the club brought in over the summer because it gave the team depth that we haven't had in years. Now, in just a month, that depth seems to have all but vanished. While we should still be able to field a strong starting 11 for the most part, we are rapidly losing the number of impact subs available off of the bench. Luckily, it sounds like Sturridge and Can should be ready to return fairly soon, which should be a big boost to the team. Hopefully their impending returns aren't spoiled by any more injuries.

I think I speak for all Liverpool fans when I say I'm really starting to despise international breaks.