Jurgen Klopp seemed vaguely optimistic when discussing Diogo Jota and Bobby Firmino’s potential availability for the League Cup final.
The latter compounded Liverpool’s injury list further after the Portuguese international was taken off at the halfway mark in the Reds’ victory at the San Siro last week with an ankle ligament concern.
“Yes, it’s too early,” the German told the club’s official website.
“I don’t even know if it will be a late decision or not; how I said, it’s too early. I saw them both today, they both look great – but those two always look great.
“We have to see how the specific issues develop but we obviously will try everything.”
The Anfield-based outfit finds itself six points behind league leaders Manchester City as the current standings sit, with a game in hand presenting a rare opportunity to shave the deficit between them.
This close to the final, the lack of a clear ‘no’ to rule out either one of the pair is more than positive and suggests it’s possible we could see them on the bench potentially at the very least.
Even if only able to contribute in a cameo, either of the two have proven to deliver when the occasion calls for it – and a first piece of silverware of the season would certainly represent such a challenge.
We’ll be keeping our fingers crossed here at the Empire of the Kop, though the recent performance of our remaining first-choice forward line options should certainly leave no room for fear with regard to our output potential.