Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has revealed Thiago Alcantara is not ready to return from the hamstring injury that kept him out of the Carabao Cup final.
The Spaniard was named in the starting XI for the game against Chelsea but picked up an injury in the warm-up and was visibly distraught on the bench after being replaced in the team by Naby Keita.
The severity of Thiago's injury is not yet known but Klopp confirmed he will not be back for Saturday's meeting with West Ham United and will miss out alongside the unwell Joel Matip.
"Strength in depth is really important, no doubt about that, especially when you have to play different competitions," Klopp told a press conference. "But we have players who are not available.
“I'm pretty sure that nobody will tell me differently because yesterday he didn't train, Thiago will not be available for tomorrow.
“Joel Matip is ill – no Covid, nowadays you can be ill in different ways as well – so he will not be available.
“So all of a sudden, we played a tough game midweek, all these kind of things, so we still wait a little bit for who is how in which moment."
Klopp also confirmed Naby Keita and Curtis Jones will both face late fitness tests before the game, with the Liverpool midfield at risk of being incredibly stretched.
"Curtis is not bad but if it is good enough to go again tomorrow, I don't know," the boss continued.
"So from eight midfielders – Naby we don’t know – to four midfielders in a week, that can happen easily. So it's not nothing as well that we, like, enjoy, ‘Oh my God, we have the full choice.' You have the full choice one day and then the other days you don't have it.
“So we have to make sure that we stay as fit as possible because we have a lot of games to play in these upcoming months.”
He added: “Naby was not in the squad on Wednesday. Bobby [Firmino] is looking good but not good enough for the weekend. I think the plan is that he trains on Sunday, first time. That sounds then doable for Tuesday.”
Source : 90min