Liverpool will be without Philippe Coutinho and Dejan Lovren for a vital Premier League double header.
Jurgen Klopp confirmed to reporters today that Lovren will miss a couple of weeks and Coutinho the rest of the month with hamstring injuries picked up in Tuesday’s League Cup win over Stoke City.
Kolo Toure is also unavailable for Friday’s FA Cup third-round tie at League Two Exeter City, but should be back in contention for next week’s matches against Arsenal and Manchester United.
Liverpool’s official website quotes Klopp as telling his press conference: “Phil is a bit more serious than Dejan, [who is] more serious than Kolo, but none of these players will be available for tomorrow.
“It’s always with muscle injuries you don’t know exactly. Kolo was a cramp, that’s not a problem, but after three days it’s not possible to play the next game. But next week should not be a problem.
“With Dejan the situation is I think he will be available after Manchester United. And Phil needs maybe one, two weeks longer, so three weeks [out] for Phil. But it’s muscle injuries so you don’t know exactly. It’s really rare that it’s quicker, sometimes it’s longer, so we will see how long it takes.”
This latest setback comes at a time when the Reds are already without Daniel Sturridge, Jordan Henderson, Martin Skrtel, Mamadou Sakho, Danny Ings and Joe Gomez, as Sky Sports confirms.
And the timing is doubly inconvenient for Klopp considering that upcoming games against Arsenal and United could go a long way to determining Liverpool’s Champions League hopes for this season.
Both the Gunners and the Red Devils will fancy their chance of knocking off a Reds outfit which will be short of their three most senior centre-backs, and their most creative player in the form of Coutinho.
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