Liverpool full-back Jose Enrique will likely miss this weekend's Premier League encounter with Arsenal due to a knee injury, per the Liverpool Echo's James Pearce.
Pearce revealed the injury via his Twitter account while, per Liverpool's official site, manager Brendan Rodgers told his pre-match press conference that "Jose will be a question mark for the weekend."
The development will come as a blow to the Reds, with backup Aly Cissokho having started just two league matches for the club this campaign due to injury.
While he has plentiful experience at big clubs around Europe, it will still be a risk that Rodgers would rather not have taken in a match that will pit together two of the league's top three sides.
Cissokho, though, has generally done well when included thus far and spoke this week of his delight at playing in Rodgers' system.
Per Sportal, Cissokho said of his wing-back role in a 3-5-2:
It's a role I like a lot. I can get up the field a lot, whilst remaining safe in terms of the three behind me. We have three defenders in line as a flat back line, which gives me a lot of freedom.
My natural position is a left-sided defender, so this freedom allows me to give everything I can to the team.
Enrique's position within the Liverpool side has never been certain under Rodgers, so the injury gives Cissokho a great opportunity to stake a claim for more regular inclusion against Arsenal.
If he impresses in what is a big match for the club's ambitions this season, his manager will be hard-pushed to drop him upon Enrique's return. While not ideal, it will give Rodgers a great insight into whether Cissokho is ready to challenge for a regular starting berth.
He will need to impress, though, with indications being that Enrique's knock is relatively minor and that he will be expected to return next week.
It is opportunities such as this that top players take, however, and it is up to Cissokho to prove that he can be the player that Liverpool need. With his deal at the club only a one-year loan for now, such chances can be decisive as to whether or not his future lies at Anfield.