Ahead of this weekend’s Carabao Cup final, Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp must cope with additional injury problems. In what may be Klopp’s final season, the Reds will be keen to win the first of potentially four trophies when they play Chelsea at Wembley on Sunday.
Diogo Jota and Curtis Jones suffered injuries in the first half of Saturday’s 4-1 victory over Brentford, and Darwin Núñez was substituted at the interval after opening the score. Although Jones and Jota may have to miss significant amounts of time due to injury, Klopp subsequently disclosed that the Uruguayan’s removal was done as a precaution.
During his news conference from Brentford following the game, Klopp stated, “Curtis got a knock on the lower part of his shin or above the ankle.” “We’ll find out what that implies. Curtis would have played on at all costs, therefore the fact that he is unable to do so indicates that there may be a problem. We had to go there since Diogo appears to be the worst; I didn’t see it back, but from what I’ve heard, the photos didn’t look great either.”
Before the trip to Wembley, Liverpool plays Luton at Anfield on Wednesday night. Klopp is anticipated to be without the three players in addition to several other injury absences. Due to a knee issue, Trent Alexander-Arnold is presently unable to play, and Thiago Alcântara, Stefan Bajčetić, and Joël Matip are also out.
Due to a muscle ailment, Alisson was unable to travel to Brentford, and it is unlikely that he will return by midweek. Caoimhín Kelleher filled in during that victory and most likely will again. Alisson might eventually recover in time for Sunday’s match against Chelsea, but Klopp has already indicated that his current backup will start.
Better news for Szboszlai may be on the horizon in other places. Since the beginning of the year, the Hungarian midfielder has been dealing with a hamstring ailment, which worsened when he started playing again. The Liverpool manager said last week that Szboszlai would likely return “around the time” of the championship game, but he also said, “I am not sure Dom has a chance to play, maybe.”
There aren’t many midfield options available to Liverpool now that Jones is expected to miss out. The timing of Wataru Endō’s return from the Asia Cup couldn’t be more ideal, and it appears that Ryan Gravenberch and Alexis Mac Allister will get the opportunity to make a statement against Luton midweek.
To give Núñez the best opportunity to be ready to play Chelsea on Sunday, it appears that Klopp will not take a chance on him on Wednesday night. “Darwin, we took off because he felt a little but that was enough to immediately push the brake and that’s what we did,” the Liverpool manager stated following the team’s victory over the weekend.
However, the Uruguayan might be ready for the Wembley championship game. After scoring and making an impact off the bench against Brentford, Cody Gakpo may have his justifiable chance to play against Luton.
