Liverpool get Fabinho injury boost as Klopp rates Champions League final chances

Jurgen Klopp has revealed Liverpool midfielder Fabinho is set to be fit for the Champions League final.

But the Brazilian will miss this weekend’s FA Cup decider against Chelsea and is likely to be out of the Reds’ Premier League title run-in. Fabinho, 28, suffered a hamstring injury in Liverpool’s 2-1 win over Aston Villa on Tuesday night.

The midfielder was forced off after half an hour and replaced by Jordan Henderson. But there was good news in his bid to be ready for the European Cup final against Real Madrid in Paris on May 28. Klopp said: “There’s a good chance that he will be available for the Champions League final.”

The Reds will miss him this weekend at Wembley, though, and he is also expected to sit out their remaining Premier League games against Southampton and Wolves. Liverpool currently trail Manchester City by three points in the race for the title.

Klopp admits the Reds have to deal without their key midfielder. Henderson is expected to stand in for Fabinho in the No 6 role he previously played in during the Brazilian’s absences and before he joined the club. Klopp added: “We have to [cope]. Because we can cope. Having him or not having him is a difference but it is all fine.

"That’s normal stuff that happens. It’s never in a position where you have 12 options, it’s always in a position where you [don’t]. We have a few players. Hendo came on and played incredible, he has played super games this season at 6 so that is not a problem.”

How much will Liverpool miss Fabinho in the FA Cup final? Let us know in the comments section below

Fabinho's absence against Chelsea means Thiago's presence will be even more important for Klopp. He has already won his first trophy for the Reds even if he didn’t play in the Carabao Cup decider having been injured during the warm-up. And the man who has won pretty much everything in club football, has a burning desire to add the FA Cup to his collection as he reflected on missing out on playing at Wembley last time.

Thiago added: “We came from other countries – not just me but other players – and just met this amazing competition, the oldest in the world. We are really excited to play – not just the competition itself but a final. We're ready for it. It doesn't matter if we didn't win [it] before or for a long time. It's just about a trophy that we can win and we add in our backpack this new challenge. We're looking forward to it.”

“It came to my mind that the last season was very hard for myself to try to be here and not having the fans in the stadium, not having this fun that this sport gives to you. We fought a lot to arrive in that moment, that you can play in a final, and then suddenly because I had a bad thing, a bad neck problem and it caused just like a chain of movement that in the end caused me an injury in the hammy.

"It's a moment where you are just frustrated. You just calm down a bit, you try to be cold enough to face the final. It was as it was. We won it and, for sure, it's bittersweet that you don't play that game, but you're happy for the team. Lifting a trophy is a special moment but it was more for the frustrating situation that everybody had the last few years. It was because of what we have been through and was a kind of celebration of overcoming that situation."

Source: Read Full Article