BREAKING NEWS: Liverpool Manager Jurgen Klopp in tears during pre match press conference this morning as Key player who’s suppose to be the main man for Chelsea game Sustained a career ending injury in the training yesterday’s
Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah and Diogo Jota are both facing a race against time to be fit for the Carabao Cup final against Chelsea.
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp said they’ll have to check on Salah and Darwin Nunez “day by day” before Sunday’s big match against Chelsea. Salah and Jota, who’ve scored 32 goals combined this season, didn’t play in Wednesday’s 4-1 win over Luton Town at Anfield, casting doubt over their involvement against Chelsea at Wembley.
If Salah and Jota can’t prove they’re fit before Sunday’s game, they’ll join Trent Alexander-Arnold, Thiago Alcantara, Joel Matip, Alisson Becker, Curtis Jones, Stefan Bajcetic and Ben Doak on the injury list. Here’s the latest news about injuries from Anfield before the Chelsea final:
Mohamed Salah
Right now, it’s not certain if Salah will play in Sunday’s League Cup final. He picked up a setback after coming back to play against Brentford last weekend.
Salah had missed Liverpool’s last eight games in all competitions before he came back to play in West London. But Klopp said the medical team will check on Salah every day before the final.
After Liverpool’s 4-1 win over Luton on Wednesday, a game which Salah missed, Klopp admitted: “The situation is not great, absolutely not, we don’t have to make that now nicer than it is. I’m so happy that all the kids came on and played, Dannsy [Jayden Danns] said 50 times, ‘Thank you, boss!’ I’m so happy that I could give him that opportunity, the boys deserve it.
“But obviously for us there are now a lot of super-important games coming up, and we don’t know, we go day by day. I cannot say anything about it and I don’t know. But after Brentford, I had no clue the situation would be like it was now. So, let’s see. There’s one phrase that stands: as long as we have 11, we will go for it. That’s all I can promise.”
Expected return date: Sunday/Wednesday.
Darwin Nunez
Like Salah, Nunez was absent from Wednesday’s Premier League victory at Anfield and will be assessed before Sunday’s League Cup final.
Klopp provided an update on the forward on Wednesday, saying: “The situation is not great, absolutely not, we don’t have to make that now nicer than it is. I’m so happy that all the kids came on and played, Dannsy [Jayden Danns] said 50 times, ‘Thank you, boss!’ I’m so happy that I could give him that opportunity, the boys deserve it.
“But obviously for us there are now a lot of super-important games coming up, and we don’t know, we go day by day. I cannot say anything about it and I don’t know. But after Brentford, I had no clue the situation would be like it was now. So, let’s see. There’s one phrase that stands: as long as we have 11, we will go for it. That’s all I can promise.
The expected return date is Sunday/Wednesday.
Diogo Jota
Diogo Jota will not play for several months after picking up a knee injury at Brentford on Saturday. Jota, who is from Portugal, was taken off the field on a stretcher after Christian Norgaard landed awkwardly on his knee towards the end of the first half.
Updating on Jota’s condition earlier this week, Klopp said: “With Diogo, it will obviously take months. I couldn’t give you a timeframe even if I wanted to, so that’s just how it is.”
His expected return date is in mid-April.
Curtis Jones
Like Jota, Curtis Jones is yet to find out how bad his ankle injury is which he got during the first half of last weekend’s victory over Brentford. Jones, Liverpool’s No.17, left the stadium on crutches and will have to recover quickly to be ready for the Carabao Cup final.
Expect him back in several weeks.
Trent Alexander-Arnold
Trent Alexander-Arnold didn’t play in Liverpool’s victories against Brentford and Luton. The right-back had a sore knee from playing against Burnley earlier this month and was substituted at half-time.
The Reds’ vice-captain is set to miss some games, including Liverpool’s Carabao Cup final against Chelsea next Sunday. He’s expected to return in early March.
Alisson Becker
Alisson didn’t play in Liverpool’s win over Brentford or Luton due to a hamstring injury. The goalie has now missed three of the Reds’ matches.
“Ali was ill last week and injured this week,” said Klopp on February 17. “No other ideas behind it (starting Caoimhin Kelleher). If he hadn’t been ill and hadn’t been injured now, Ali would have played.”
“We will see how long Ali is out but Caoimhin is exceptional and today it was an A+ performance.”
He’s expected to return in March.
Dominik Szoboszlai
Szoboszlai has missed Liverpool’s last four Premier League matches because of a hamstring injury. The Hungary international first got hurt on New Year’s Day against Newcastle.
Szoboszlai came back to play against Chelsea on January 31 but has since missed the games against Arsenal, Burnley and Brentford due to injury. The midfielder might not play in the Carabao Cup final against Chelsea on Sunday.
He’s expected to return next week.
Thiago Alcantara
Thiago got a hamstring injury during his short appearance against Arsenal on February 4. The midfielder hadn’t played for the Reds for nine months before coming on as a substitute at the Emirates Stadium.
Liverpool haven’t set a date for when they think the Spanish player will be back. But Klopp has said before that he hopes the midfielder can play again before the season ends.
Expected return date: Unknown.
Stefan Bajcetic
Stefan Bajcetic has had some bad luck with injuries at Anfield. He did well in his first season but had to stop playing in March because of an adductor stress response.
Bajcetic came back in September and played in the Carabao Cup and Europa League. But after the game against LASK Linz, he got a calf injury. We’re not sure when he’ll be able to train fully again.
Expected return date: Unknown.
Joel Matip
Joel Matip is getting better after having surgery on his anterior cruciate ligament. The 32 year old’s contract at Liverpool is almost up, and he probably won’t play again this season. He got hurt in the 70th minute of Liverpool’s exciting 4-3 win over Fulham in December.
Expected return date: Summer.
Ben Doak
Ben Doak hurt his knee badly while playing for the under-21s and will be out for a long time. Pep Lijnders, the assistant manager, said about Doak’s injury: “That’s not a good one. He tore his lateral meniscus, which needs surgery.
“That one will take (a) longer time. He is young, he is a fit guy, he is a positive guy so for sure he will come back stronger, and we need him to come back with the same fire he has with the ball, how he was. We will wait for him.”
Expected return date: Late season.
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