Jurgen Klopp delivered some devastating news during his Friday press conference.
When asked about availability, the German tactician revealed that Trent Alexander-Arnold (£7.6m) has suffered a hamstring injury that will keep him out for ‘weeks’.
A specific recovery time frame was not given but the 23-year-old will not report for England duty next week and might not return for Liverpool until May.
Naturally this is a significant blow to the Reds’ hopes of adding more trophies to their Carabao Cup win this season but it’s a catastrophe for a sizeable chunk of Dream Team bosses.
Alexander-Arnold currently features in 43.8% of teams – only Mohamed Salah (£7.9m) is more popular.
Similarly, the outstanding right-back has 245 points to his name – again, only his Egyptian team-mate boasts a greater tally at this stage.
And to complete the hat-trick, Salah is the only asset with a higher price right now.
Liverpool’s No66 has provided 15 assists in all competitions this season, a figure that even the best playmakers look upon with envy.
Add two goals, regular clean sheets, Star Man awards and plenty of 7+ ratings and there can be no doubt that he’s a one-of-a-kind Dream Team asset.
Alexander-Arnold has been such a prolific points scorer this season that most his backers had hoped to simply keep him locked until the end of term.
However, this cruel twist of fate demands a response.
Those with at least one March transfer left in the bank can replace the crocked defender ahead of the reduced service that is Game Week 29.
Liverpool are in FA Cup action against Nottingham Forest and many gaffers will be want to keep a strong Anfield contingent in their XI – Joel Matip (£5.3m) banked 23 points last Game Week to move inside the top five defenders in the game.
The most natural replacement for Alexander-Arnold is, of course, Andy Robertson (£5.9m).
Scotland’s captain has provided 13 assists of his own, another staggering statistic, and boasts an impressive tally of 177 points overall.
Joao Cancelo (£7.4m) is another obvious candidate as the second-best defender and one of only four double centurions at this stage.
The Portuguese full-back is coming off the back of yet another Star Man award on Monday night and is as close to a certain starter as you get in a Pep Guardiola side.
Another option for Alexander-Arnold owners is to wait until the back end of the international break for news on Reece James (£6.0m).
The Chelsea wing-back averages 6.3 points-per-game when fit this season and would fit the bill of a defender who also stacks up goal involvements for fun.
Thomas Tuchel’s side have favourable fixtures at the start of April too.
If none of those options are realistic then it’s probably best to fall back on reliable assets like Antonio Rudiger (£4.8m) and Aymeric Laporte (£5.5m).
Those two clearly won’t provide a constant stream of assists but they’ll tick over nicely.
Alexander-Arnold’s eye-watering price may mean bringing him back in once he’s regained fitness will be difficult but Dream Team managers will just have to cross that bridge when they come to it.