Jurgen Klopp issued injury updates on several Liverpool players during his press conference on Tuesday afternoon ahead of tomorrow night’s clash against Luton.
Alisson Becker, Diogo Jota and Curtis Jones were all emphatically ruled out of contention to feature, and the 56-year-old namechecked two other Reds who won’t make it in time for the midweek fixture at Anfield.
Speaking to the media this lunchtime, the German confirmed that Trent Alexander-Arnold and Dominik Szoboszlai won’t be ready to play on Wednesday, saying (via Liverpool Echo): “Trent, Szoboszlai are on their way back. [They’re] not in team training yet, so not available yet. That is the situation.”
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With eight matches coming up between now and 17 March, and Klopp already navigating a series of injury concerns, he needs to be hugely careful with how he utilises his squad for Liverpool’s forthcoming fixtures.
After tomorrow night’s game, Chelsea in the Carabao Cup final is the next assignment, so the best-case scenario is that Trent and Szoboszlai may be fit enough for the trip to Wembley.
The Hungarian could make it, all going well, but it’ll probably come too soon for the vice-captain, with recent reports citing early March as a more realistic return date, assuming there are no impediments to his recovery.
Their continued absences will see Conor Bradley continue to be entrusted at right-back, where he’s performed commendably in recent weeks, while Ryan Gravenberch is likely to start in midfield tomorrow night as Szoboszlai, Jones, Thiago Alcantara and Stefan Bajcetic are all out of action.
The injury list at Liverpool is frighteningly extensive, and fingers crossed it might begin to clear some bit over the coming week without any more names being added to it.
#Ep102 of The Empire of the Kop Podcast: EOTK Insider with Neil Jones🎙️