Naby Keita was due to start last night, but pulled out in the warmup and James Milner took his place.
According to Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp, the Guinean pulled his groin with his final shot of the warmup before kick-off – which is incredibly frustrating considering our current injury crisis.
Liverpool beat Sheffield United 2-0, cruising through the game, with skipper Jordan Henderson in top, top form – but the Keita injury is a black mark on the evening.
When Klopp describes an injury as ‘not cool,’ it means the sufferer won’t be back competing imminently.
“I don’t know exactly what he has – it was the groin – but I can say already he will not be involved against Everton,” Klopp said, reported in the Mirror.
“That makes it 12 adult players we have [available], plus the kids, so that’s not cool, but we cannot change it.
“I have no clue how it happened, I think it was the last shot in the warm-up when he felt something. He came in [the dressing room] and was limping.
“Everybody who has played football has had this kind of injury and it’s not nice, it’s painful.
“I don’t know exactly what it is or how long it will take, but I can say already he will not be ready for Sunday.”
With Fabinho and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain already injured and not approaching a return, Keita’s injury is even more frustrating.
We now have four fit midfielders for three positions: Henderson, James Milner, Gini Wijnaldum and Adam Lallana.
Klopp also has two senior centre-backs available to him and two senior fullbacks…
Takumi Minamino provides us another option in advanced areas, but we can’t expect too much of the Japanese immediately.
We hope Klopp rests as many as possible v Everton and that the current crop get a proper rest before the next Premier League game – which is against Spurs in eight days’ time.