Thiago and Curtis Jones will both be absent for Saturday’s trip to Watford in the Premier League, with Jurgen Klopp frustrated with the latter’s groin injury.
The Reds are due to be without Alisson and Fabinho at Vicarage Road, with the pair avoiding quarantine by flying straight to Madrid, but Klopp will be particularly short in midfield.
Thiago is yet to recover from a calf problem, while Jones has returned from duty with the England under-21s with a groin injury.
Liverpool are expected to then line up with Jordan Henderson, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Naby Keita in midfield, or shift to a 4-2-3-1 system, with Klopp frustrated by Jones’ treatment with England.
“When we talk about federations, Curtis Jones came back injured from the U21s. So, great. That’s not OK as well,” he said.
“It’s really difficult to get proper contact even with the English federation, because they just do what they want.
“He didn’t train, was not involved in the first game, they didn’t do a scan.
“Then he played a few minutes in the second game, very important that he played there (sarcasm). Came back, slight injury, not available for tomorrow.”
This came despite England U21s manager Lee Carsley claiming prior to the 1-0 victory in Andorra – which saw Jones come off the bench to assist the winner – that he and his staff “definitely won’t be taking any risks” with the 20-year-old.
Meanwhile, Klopp said of Thiago: “I don’t know, it still takes a little bit of time.
“That’s a bit disappointing, but we’ve known for a few days now that it will not go that quick. We have to wait.”
Harvey Elliott is out for the long term, but both Trent Alexander-Arnold and Diogo Jota are fit and available for Saturday.
Fan Comments