Liverpool will be without at least four players for the visit of Leeds United on Saturday night while the availability of key midfielder Thiago is uncertain.
Diogo Jota, Arthur Melo and Luis Diaz are all ruled out until after the World Cup while manager Jurgen Klopp admitted last week that centre-back Joel Matip is unlikely to return until the “last two or three games” before the Premier League pauses for the tournament in Qatar.
It means the defender is likely to miss Saturday evening’s meeting with Leeds after picking up a calf injury in Liverpool’s defeat against Arsenal earlier this month.
Thiago was absent as Liverpool lost 1-0 at Nottingham Forest last weekend due to an ear infection and missed out again as the Reds secured passage to the Champions League knockout stages with a 3-0 win over Ajax on Wednesday night. Asked before the game if Thiago would miss Saturday’s fixture against Leeds, Klopp said: "I hope not but who knows?"
Naby Keita and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlin have both returned to fitness after spending time on the sidelines while Ibrahima Konaté appears to have recovered from his injury problems after being named on the bench against Ajax.
Jordan Henderson was forced off in the Champions League meeting on Wednesday but Klopp confirmed that it was not a serious issue for the Liverpool captain. There were no other injury worries for the Reds from their win in Amsterdam.
Klopp added: “I was worried as well, when I saw the situation, because it was in front of me. I think he got knee on knee, so painful, a bruise probably, really painful. But as far as I know now, nothing else, so that should be fine.
“I didn’t have too much time to spend in the dressing room yet, but nobody came to me with any bigger problems.”
No comments:
Post a Comment