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José Mourinho certainly spoke of a good game when he tried to belittle Liverpool’s claims of an injury crisis.
Mourinho even broke down a list of Liverpool first-team players who are currently in a position to underline his point and then revealed that he knew exactly how many days Jurgen Klopp had been in charge to show he had done his homework and knew what he was up to. about.
It was Mourinho who went on offense, not that he is expected to take the same approach on the Anfield pitch tonight.
It was a smart move to try to confiscate any excuses from Klopp before he could use them and subsequently put pressure on Liverpool.
But as compelling as Mourinho’s performance at his pre-game press conference was, the facts do not support his argument.
Liverpool have been affected by injuries this season and currently have nine players out, more than any other Premier League team at the moment. Only Aston Villa and Newcastle have been comparably affected by injuries with eight a piece on the medical table.
Mourinho said Virgil van Dijk was the only significant absentee, but Liverpool are also without Joe Gomez and summer signings Thiago and Diogo Jota.
Speaking before the clash at the top of the table, Mourinho said: ‘I think Alisson is not injured. Alexander-Arnold is not injured. Matip, I think he’s going to play. Fabinho is not injured. Robertson was not hurt. Henderson is not injured. Wijnaldum was not injured. Salah is not injured, Firmino is not injured, Mane is not injured.
‘Van Dijk is injured and Van Dijk is a very good player, of course.
But give me Liverpool’s injury list and I compared that list with which is the best Liverpool team. I can give you a list of ten Tottenham injuries.
‘We have two kids from the U-16 with injuries, we have another two in the U-21 and two in the U-23, we have Lamela and Tanganga. And here is a list of ten players.
But is Lloris hurt? No. Alderweireld hurt? No. Dier hurt? No. Reguilon injured? No. Harry Kane hurt? No. Injured son? No. Lucas hurt? No.
So where are the wounds? Lesions are normal. James Milner is injured, Lamela is injured. You know. All clubs have injuries from time to time. Liverpool have a great injury that is Van Dijk. ‘
Gomez, like Van Dijk, is expected to miss the rest of the season through injury. While he may not be as strange as Van Dijk, Gomez was a key player in Liverpool’s title success last season and was Klopp’s preferred partner for the Dutchman, playing 28 of 38 matches.
Joel Matip, who replaced Gomez at times last season, is also a big question to face against the Spurs, leaving Klopp fearful that he has no senior center-back fit for Wednesday’s clash with the Spurs.
Thiago was his quintessential summer arrival, but has been sidelined for several weeks, while Jota, whose rich streak of form had briefly earned him a place ahead of Roberto Firmino in the starting eleven before suffering an injury, will be out until February.
Naby Keita is also unlikely to face Tottenham with a muscle problem.
Regardless of how important Mourinho thinks these players are to Liverpool, Klopp will feel his team is noticeably weaker without them.
James Milner, Xherdan Shaqiri and Konstantinos Tsimikas would have likely been on the bench tonight, but they have also been ruled out.
Instead, Mourinho is only missing Gareth Bale, Japhet Tanganga and Erik Lamela.
Statistics also show that, on average, Liverpool have had more first-team players who have missed matches through injury than any other of the big six teams this season with a percentage of 18.7.
Thiago and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who recently got back in shape, have missed a large chunk of games due to injury, the last absent in all league games so far and the first without participating in nearly three-quarters of the Liverpool matches.
The Spurs have been far more fortunate with the average lost playing time for their regular first-team players this season three times less than Liverpool’s at just 6.6 percent of games.
Mourinho may think Liverpool don’t have an injury crisis to complain about, but if he were missing nine players, four or five of whom would definitely have turned up tonight, you can imagine that he would feel sympathetic to himself too.
Source: m.allfootballapp.com
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