Jurgen Klopp has confirmed that Liverpool will be without Trent Alexander-Arnold for Saturday’s Premier League clash against Wolves.
The 24-year-old was forced off with a hamstring problem during the second half of the 3-0 win over Aston Villa at the start of this month and withdrew from the England squad for the international break (talkSPORT).
Speaking in Friday’s press conference ahead of the trip to Molineux (via liverpoolfc.com), the Reds manager said of the right-back: “He is not available. We knew that before.
“He didn’t train with the team once yet and it will take a little bit [of time]. It’s not the worst hamstring injury you could have but it’s a hamstring injury. They barely heal in two weeks and this one didn’t as well.
“He’s running already but we hope he can start ball work early next week. Then we will see. We will go from there.”
READ MORE: Paul Merson blown away by Liverpool phenomenon; only played four times for Klopp
READ MORE: Liverpool’s 10-player concern may have levelled Wolves playing field – Sky pundit
It always seemed a race against time for Trent to recover in time to face Wolves tomorrow, and from Klopp’s comments today, he probably seemed resigned to being without the 24-year-old for the Molineux clash for a few days now.
It’s certainly a blow for Liverpool to be without a player of the right-back’s quality, which was on display with some sublime passing during the win over Aston Villa, but it’s not as if the Reds boss is without a solution to the problem.
Joe Gomez, who was excellent in the last two games prior to the international break, now looks set to move out to the right-hand side of defence, something which can be done in the knowledge that Ibrahima Konate will be available for the game against Gary O’Neil’s side.
Klopp said in today’s press conference that the Frenchman has trained with the team twice this week, so the centre-back should be OK to line up alongside Joel Matip tomorrow.
With Saturday’s trip to Wolves the first of seven matches in 23 days, let’s hope Trent can regain full fitness as quickly as possible, with the season now set to become turbocharged.
#Ep90 of The Empire of the Kop Podcast: EOTK Insider with Steve Kay – Goncalo Inacio NEXT?🎙️