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Jurgen Klopp faces the most serious injury crisis of his tenure as Liverpool manager with several of his stars missing before the return of the Premier League and Champions League.
Klopp’s men are currently third in the table, one point behind Sunday’s leader and opponent Leicester, but will now head into a crucial part of the season after the latest international break.
The Premier League champions enjoyed a stellar campaign last season, but this time they haven’t had much luck with the players’ fitness, and are currently looking at the basics to get back to the top of the table.
The Reds still face uncertainty over the status of at least nine regular starters before the clash against Brendan Rodgers’ men and will therefore be forced to line up players like Neco Williams and Nat Phillips and commission the inexperienced duo to keep Jamie. Vardy out adding to his eight goals in the top flight this season.
There may well be questions about Williams replacing Alexander-Arnold after Wales interim manager Robert Page said the young right-back has a blow to the foot after a strong kick in the weekend’s game against Ireland. Williams was only on the bench for Wednesday’s game against Finland.
The 19-year-old Williams appeared in six Premier League matches last season but is yet to feature in the top flight this season, despite appearances in the Champions League and Carabao Cup as early as 2020-21.
Meanwhile, Phillips made his Premier League bow for the Anfield club in the narrow win against West Ham after spending last year on loan at Stuttgart.
At the other end of the experience spectrum, James Milner has yet to start a Premier League game this season, but the current problems, which started long before the players left for the final round of matches for their countries, could see the veteran replace. in the midfield.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is the player who has been on the sidelines the longest after injuring his knee ligaments in the August preseason, as the England midfielder missed 14 games for his club and eight for Gareth Southgate.
Sportsmail understands the 27-year-old is still a few weeks away from returning, with his spell riddled with injuries on the Reds since joining Arsenal in 2017 and reduced it to just 87 appearances at Anfield.
The injury situation at the club was exacerbated in the most horrendous way possible two months later, when Virgil Van Dijk suffered an ACL injury that likely ended the season early in the Merseyside derby following a reckless tackle by Jordan. Pickford.
The Reds suffered a double blow against Everton after star midfielder Thiago also suffered a knee injury after Richarlison’s poorly executed attack resulted in a red card for the Brazilian and put the Spaniard on the ground.
A disheartened Klopp admitted in the week after the fierce and grumpy derby that any team would miss Van Dijk because he is the best defender in the world, but backed midfielder Fabinho to provide excellent coverage alongside Joe Gomez.
But soon the German’s options at center-backs became even more restricted when Fabinho injured his hamstring and was forced to retire in his Champions League clash with Midtjylland just 10 days after the Van Dijk blow.
Sportsmail understands that the 27-year-old former Monaco star is close to returning to Klopp’s team, but given that he has been out for a month, resulting in him missing Brazil’s international matches this month, it is unlikely that the club risk it until they do. he is sure to have regained his physical form.
Thiago is still responding to treatment and he too has been handled with care having failed to appear since the 2-2 draw at Goodison Park, but reports suggest there is optimism that he will be available soon.
Liverpool suffered a fifth injury in the game before the international break, and right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold suffered a hamstring problem in the draw against Manchester City.
So the 22-year-old star missed England’s triple header during the current hiatus and is expected to be out for another three weeks, but perhaps the last thing Klopp would have wanted, or needed, was for his players to blow up all of them. parts of the world and are at risk of contracting coronavirus or taking a hit.
However, it was at St George’s Park that the Reds received their last significant blow.
Joe Gomez was in England training on Wednesday last week when he suffered an injury with no one else around him.
The central defender underwent surgery to repair the patellar tendon in his left knee, which Liverpool considered a success, but which nonetheless added to their growing list of absentees.
Because Gomez underwent the procedure, surgeons did not discover any damage to the cruciate, medial or lateral ligaments.
As such, Liverpool will not rule out Gomez for the season, but faces the challenge of being fit for the Euro next summer, while Southgate revealed that he spoke to Klopp about the ‘tragic’ injury and his concerns for the player’s well-being. given the current calendar.
But that is not to say that the Reds did not suffer other problems before their return to national and European competitions.
Star forward Mohamed Salah added to the mounting problems for Klopp after testing positive for coronavirus for the second time on Wednesday.
The Reds forward has been isolated with mild symptoms in his native Egypt since Friday and missed the qualifying match of two African Cup of Nations qualifying matches against Togo.
The Liverpool star had been training with his national team after he reportedly attended his brother’s wedding in Cairo last Monday, which was criticized by former Egyptian striker Mido for ‘negligence’.
The Egyptian Health Ministry had indicated that Salah could have returned to his club this week if he had tested negative for the virus on Thursday, but will now have to stay in his home country after returning another positive test.
Meanwhile, captain Jordan Henderson limped off England’s Nations League loss to Belgium two days after Salah tested positive, before retiring from the team on Monday.
The midfielder underwent a scan on Tuesday, with Liverpool hoping it was nothing too serious, but currently appears to be facing a battle to face former boss Brendan Rodgers at the weekend, as well as Serie A Atalanta. A midweek.
Klopp’s troubles were further compounded when Andy Robertson skipped Scotland’s loss to Slovakia after leading his country to Euro 2020 and their first major tournament in 22 years with a play-off win against Serbia.
The left-back traveled with the team to Israel and will be evaluated when he returns to Liverpool, and if he missed it, summer signing Kostas Tsimikas would be his first league start of the season.
Rhys Williams then provided the club with another injury scare. England Under 21 boss Aidy Boothroyd sent the 19-year-old back to Liverpool with a minor hip problem.
The measure was understood to be a precautionary measure for a minor issue and therefore he is expected to be in the bank at least on Saturday.
The list is currently a painful read and the troubles may not be over yet, with Roberto Firmino still on his way back from Brazil’s game against Uruguay.
However, if the Brazilian recovers in time from the long trips to and from South America, he will join compatriot Alisson, as well as Georginio Wijnaldum, Robertson, Naby Keita, Diogo Jota and Sadio Mane as the only regulars available to Klopp.
Liverpool have three wins out of three in their Champions Leaqgue group and will qualify if they beat Atalanta, while a favorable match list for next month should at least be of some comfort.
But Klopp will hope that the current strain on his medical staff is not a sign of things to come, as the German will need so many of his available stars as soon as possible to continue the challenge on three fronts.
Source: m.allfootballapp.com
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