Both Liverpool stars are facing a race against time to be fit for the Carabao Cup final at the end of the month, and will miss Saturday’s match against Burnley
Dominik Szoboszlai might miss the Carabao Cup final as Jurgen Klopp admitted he does not know when the Liverpool midfielder will return from his hamstring injury, while Mohamed Salah could be winning his race against time to fit to play at Wembley on 25 February.
Klopp allayed fears that Thiago Alcantara’s latest injury has ended his Liverpool career by saying he expects the Spain international to play again this season.
But both midfielders will miss Saturday’s game against Burnley, along with Salah, who could return to training next week or the week after.
The suspended Ibrahima Konate and Conor Bradley, who is on compassionate leave, are also unavailable. Klopp said Liverpool will give the right-back as long as he needs to grieve after losing his father, Joe.
Szoboszlai missed last week’s 3-1 defeat to Arsenal and Klopp said: “Dom is running outside at the moment in the winter rain. He is not ready for tomorrow [Saturday] and then we have to see. It is pretty much the same he had before, so not good he got that again. When you see the pictures, you have to take him out. We are fighting for days: is it Brentford [next Saturday], is it the final or after the final? I don’t know.”
Top scorer Salah has not played for Liverpool since New Year’s Day after sustaining a hamstring injury playing for Egypt in the Africa Cup of Nations.
Klopp said the winger is getting closer to returning, adding: “[He is going in the] right direction. We hope, but we don’t know, [that] he can be part of training next week but we have to see. He is going through all the paces now but it is positive. Either next week or the week after.”
Thiago made his first appearance for 10 months as a substitute at Arsenal but is sidelined again and Klopp added: “Thiago obviously is not cool. Everything looked absolutely fantastic in training, it looks outstanding so you think, ‘take him, let him play a few minutes’. And then it is a muscle issue. We don’t know the extent yet so we have to wait. It is really not good news for him, for us, for everyone.”
Bradley was in outstanding form when he last played, in the 4-1 win over Chelsea, before the death of his father.
“The boy gets as long as he needs with his family,” Klopp said. “I think from next week on he will be back in training but we will see. If he doesn’t feel ready for that, that is fine as well.”
While Liverpool are suffering from a sickness bug in the camp, the good news is that Wataru Endo is available after the Asian Cup. “Before he left us he was super influential, his protection was just exceptional,” added Klopp, who is confident that the Japan captain and Alexis Mac Allister could line up together.
“Macca and Wataru can play together,” he said. “That is not a problem.”
