Jurgen Klopp confirmed after the West Ham game that James Milner had travelled to London separately from the rest of the squad as he was suffering from an illness and was contagious, and he most likely felt a bit isolated during the game too.
Again starting at right-back in the absences of Trent Alexander-Arnold and Joe Gomez, Milner didn't get much help from his midfield as he was left up against the excellent Felipe Anderson.
If the second half of last season and Liverpool's run to the Champions League final proved anything, it is that Milner is at his best when he is at the centre of things.
It is all well and good shifting to right-back to do a job for 90 minutes, but it has now reached a point where playing Milner there is causing more problems than it solves across the pitch.
Liverpool very much missed Alexander-Arnold's energy down the right flank in the Leicester and West Ham games, and asking 33-year-old to do a 20-year-old's job comes with its obvious problems.
If Alexander-Arnold is still out for the Bournemouth game then Klopp may have no choice but to turn to teenager Rafael Camacho to play at right-back as he'd offer more energy and width there.
There's also a strong case to drop Fabinho back to centre-back given Joel Matip's form.
Either way, restoring Milner – one of the few in the squad who know how to win a league title – to midfield should be paramount, especially if one or both of Henderson and Wijnaldum are absent.
Liverpool need to restore some common sense to their title challenge after all, and so who better to do it than him?
This article was most recently revised and updated 4 years ago
