The latest injury and selection news from Liverpool as Jurgen Klopp plots his action plan for the League Cup semi-final first leg against Fulham at Anfield
Liverpool will be without 10 players for their Carabao Cup semi-final opener with Fulham on Wednesday night. It comes after England regular Trent Alexander-Arnold was sidelined for “a few weeks” after picking up a knee injury during the build-up to that first leg showdown at Anfield (8pm).
Jurgen Klopp and his team will do battle with the Londoners over 180 minutes for the right to play Middlesbrough or Chelsea in the Wembley finale. However, with AFCON-bound Egypt star Mohamed Salah also unavailable due to international duty, the Reds have been handed another selection blow.
Speaking at the club’s pre-match press conference, Liverpool assistant manager Pep Lijnders said: “Some not-that-good news, Trent hyperextended his knee during the last game – so he has a little tear in the lateral ligament of his knee and he will need some time to recover.”
Lijnders continued: “He had a scan and he will be out for a few weeks. Let’s see after that.”
Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk should recover in time for the Fulham game, though, after illness struck him down before their preceding FA Cup win over Arsenal on Sunday afternoon. However, the Carabao Cup semi-final comes too soon for Hungary midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai (hamstring).
Joel Matip (knee), Andrew Robertson (shoulder), Kostas Tsimikas (shoulder), Thiago Alcantara (hip) and youngster Stefan Bajcetic (calf) remain on the treatment table with medium or long-term problems. Ben Doak is similarly not likely to feature for the foreseeable future with a knee injury he picked up in an under21 match against Chelsea.
The other selection absentee for Liverpool right now is Japan midfielder Wataru Endo. The 30-year-old is poised to jet to Qatar to take part in the Asian Cup – which like the Africa Cup of Nations is being held in January and February.
