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NAPLES, ITALY - Wednesday, September 7, 2022: Liverpool's substitute Arthur Melo during the UEFA Champions League Group A matchday 1 game between SSC Napoli and Liverpool FC at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona. Napoli won 4-1. (Pic by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)

Jurgen Klopp explains Arthur’s absence vs. Rangers – “We have to wait”

Jurgen Klopp has explained why Arthur was missing from Tuesday’s matchday squad, with an injury sustained in the last session before the win over Rangers.

Liverpool’s injury woes have eased in recent weeks, with the list a lot more palatable than it was before the September international break.

But Arthur has since added his name to the list after succumbing to a muscle injury on the eve of Rangers’ visit earlier in the week.

The Brazilian’s absence went unexplained but in his pre-Arsenal press conference, Klopp revealed that it was not due to illness nor falling out of favour.

“There’s one new injury – Arthur in the last session before the Rangers game,” Klopp told reporters on Friday.

“In a normal situation, he just injured a muscle. We have to wait for further assessment to wait for how long it will be.”

LEIPZIG, GERMANY - Thursday, July 21, 2022: Liverpool's Curtis Jones during a pre-season friendly match between RB Leipzig and Liverpool FC at the Red Bull Arena. Liverpool won 5-0. (Pic by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)

It’s a disappointing turn of events for Arthur after putting in the time and effort over the last few weeks to get up to speed with his new team, having only played 13 minutes since his loan move.

Andy Robertson, Curtis Jones, Naby Keita and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain are the other senior players in the treatment room after recoveries for Caoimhin Kelleher, Ibrahima Konate and Calvin Ramsay.

As for how the quartet are progressing in their recovery, Klopp offered a brief update and revealed that Curtis Jones is likely to be the next to return for the Reds.

Curtis Jones was in training yesterday, looked good but only the first session – he’s probably the closest,” Klopp explained.

“Naby and Ox still a little bit away. Robbo is running a lot, looks like he is close but Curtis is the closest, then Robbo and then the other two.”