Jurgen Klopp has eased concerns over James Milner after he was ruled out of Liverpool’s Boxing Day clash with Newcastle.
The vice-captain didn’t even make the Reds’ bench after evidently sustaining a minor muscle injury during training.
His absence follows on from his superb performance as a make-shift right-back in place of the injured Trent Alexander-Arnold in last Friday’s 2-0 win over Wolves.
Alberto Moreno was also left out of the squad due to injury having been named as a substitute on 10 occasions in the Premier League so far this season.
Discussing the midfielder’s omission, Klopp told Liverpoolfc.com: “It’s not that serious but still serious enough to put him out of the squad today.”
“Millie has a little muscle problem so we couldn’t fix it quick enough, obviously, similar to Alberto Moreno [who has] some back problems.”
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The loss of Milner is somewhat made up for by the return of Alexander-Arnold, who has been sidelined since suffering an ankle injury in the 1-0 Champions League win over Napoli earlier this month.
Naby Keita has also shaken off injury concerns following his early departure against Wolves to take his place on the bench, where he is joined by fellow summer signing Fabinho.
Their withdrawal has subsequently paved the way for Xherdan Shaqiri to earn another start in what is an incredibly attacking lineup from the league leaders.