Jurgen Klopp hasn’t tried to sugarcoat Liverpool’s perilous injury situation ahead of the FA Cup tie at home to Southampton on Wednesday night.
The Reds currently have no fewer than 12 players nursing body blows of varying severity, and the manager had to call upon a few inexperienced youngsters to get us over the line in the Carabao Cup final on Sunday.
Darwin Nunez, Mo Salah and Dominik Szoboszlai appear to be the three who are closest to coming back, but the 56-year-old was making no promises about their potential involvement against the Saints tomorrow.
Speaking in his pre-match press conference on Tuesday, Klopp said (via Paul Gorst on X): “We need miracles with a few players. That’s why I don’t want to rule anyone out, but it’s touch and go. Darwin, Mo, Dom, we have to see.”
Ryan Gravenberch is ruled out for tomorrow. A ligament injury that "could have been much worse," says Klopp.
"We need miracles with a few players, that's why I don't want to rule anyone out, but it's touch and go. Darwin, Mo, Dom, we have to see."https://t.co/WynXcpjQvO
— Paul Gorst (@ptgorst) February 27, 2024
READ MORE: ‘Not available’ – Jurgen Klopp confirms Liverpool injury blow ahead of Southampton clash
Given the quick turnaround between fixtures, and an obvious desire to avoid giving too much away to Liverpool’s opponents, it’s unsurprising that Klopp is talking down the probability of that trio featuring against Southampton.
The manner in which Nunez celebrated Virgil van Dijk’s winner on Sunday – casually hopping over two barriers during a frenzied sprint – suggests that he’s not exactly rendered immobile by the knock that he incurred at Brentford recently.
Nonetheless, with thoughts returning to the Premier League title race before the weekend, and the resumption of the Europa League campaign on the horizon, an element of playing the percentages must be on the manager’s mind for forthcoming team selections.
There’s a chance that Klopp might keep the likes of the Uruguay striker, plus Salah and Szoboszlai, on the bench to begin with tomorrow night, with the possibility of them entering the fray in the second half if Liverpool are in need of a goal or two to maintain their pursuit of a second domestic cup this season.
Fingers crossed that a few of the injured players will return soon. If we see even a couple featuring against Southampton, that’ll be a positive sign that the treatment room might finally start clearing.