PRESTON, ENGLAND - Monday, August 7, 2023: Liverpool's Dominik Szoboszlai during a pre-season friendly match between Liverpool FC and SV Darmstadt 98 at Deepdale. Liverpool won 3-1. (Pic by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)

Jurgen Klopp explains Dominik Szoboszlai injury – unsure over League Cup final

Jurgen Klopp admits he is not yet sure when Dominik Szoboszlai will be available after another hamstring injury, with doubts over the Carabao Cup final.

Szoboszlai missed the trip to Arsenal at the weekend and will remain unavailable for the Reds’ upcoming fixtures, having suffered a recurrence of his hamstring injury.

The No. 8 flew back to Hungary earlier in the week to undergo treatment from specialist Dr. Franz Leberbauer, though doubts remained over the severity of his issue.

And in his pre-Burnley press conference on Friday, Klopp gave a similar verdict, explaining that Liverpool are “fighting for days” over his return.

“Dom is running outside at the moment, in the winter rain,” the manager said.

“He’s not ready for tomorrow, of course. Then we have to see. Like it always is with these tendon things, pretty quickly the player is pain-free.

“It’s a muscle, pretty much the same as he had before. It’s obviously really not good that he got that again.

“It didn’t feel a great issue, but when you see it on the pictures, you just have to take him out.

“We are fighting for days, if you want. Is it Brentford? Is it the final? Is it after the final? I don’t know in the moment.”

SHEFFIELD, ENGLAND - Wednesday, December 6, 2023: Liverpool's Wataru Endo during the FA Premier League match between Sheffield United FC and Liverpool FC at Bramall Lane. Liverpool won 2-0. (Photo by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)

With Szoboszlai still out and Thiago rejoining the list of absentees, Klopp’s midfield options are again slimmer than he would hope.

Stefan Bajcetic remains sidelined as he overcomes growing pains, though Wataru Endo is now back available following Japan’s exit from the Asian Cup.

Alexis Mac Allister and Curtis Jones are surefire starters on Saturday, with one of Endo, Ryan Gravenberch or Harvey Elliott expected to join the pair.