Liverpool injury blow as Jurgen Klopp admits five stars ruled out of Man Utd tie
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Jurgen Klopp has confirmed that Naby Kieta will miss Liverpool’s top of the table showdown with Manchester United at Anfield.
The news means that the Reds boss will now be without five of his first team squad to call upon with doubts over a further two.
Liverpool go into the game trailing their bitter rivals by three points who sit on top of the Premier League after an impressive recent run.
Midfielder Keita joins long-term absentees Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez on the sidelines, as well as summer signings Konstantinos Tsimikas and Diogo Jota who are also out of action.
"Naby is not ready for involvement," said Klopp in his pre-match press conference.
"It's not a big thing. It's a little bit like with other players in the past when they came back from injuries and then because of the amount of games and situation in the squad they had to play.”
Keita has been beset with injury issues since moving to Anfield from RB Leipzig in 2018.
His manager didn’t reveal the cause of his latest setback but was optimistic the player will be back in action sooner rather than later.
"Then a little injury happened again. Now we just had to put on the brake and say: 'Let's settle it properly'.
"In the moment we have alternatives in midfield, so we really try to give him all the time he needs to get 100 per cent fit. That's the situation, so no, he is not in contention for Sunday."
Meanwhile, Klopp also hinted that captain Jordan Henderson and Joel Matip remain doubtful for the match as both look to overcome their own fitness issues.
"Hendo is very important in midfield for us as well, so we just have to see. It's not decided yet, why should I?
"Joel is close. Does it now make sense to throw him into a game with one or two sessions, which he didn't do yet, but today (Friday) and tomorrow (Saturday) he might be involved?
"To bring him (in), I don't know. We have to see, we have to decide, we have to look at him and how he will train, how he looks in training and these kind of things, but we have still different solutions.
The champions slipped down to second in the table after a run of just one win in their last five league games, allowing Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s in-form side to take advantage.
A win will see the Reds leapfrog United on goal difference, however, defeat will see Solskjaer’s side open up a five point gap on their rivals.
- Liverpool FC
- Jurgen Klopp
- Manchester United FC
- Premier League
- Ole Gunnar Solskjaer
- Sir Alex Ferguson
- Virgil van Dijk
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