Liverpool have suffered a major setback on the injury front with both Thiago Alcantara and Naby Keita ruled out of the weekend contest against Brentford in the Premier League.
The Merseysiders are gearing up for a visit to West London and face the league’s new boys Brentford who have put out an impressive display in their promotional campaign so far.
Jurgen Klopp will be unable to call upon his midfield duo for the forthcoming game as was confirmed by the German himself in his pre-match press conference.
Thiago, who limped off the pitch in the last outing against Crystal Palace with a calf issue, will be in line to return to the fold only after the international break, revealed Klopp who ruled out an early return to the pitch for the Spain international.
“It’s not 100 per cent clear when Thiago will be back. It’s a muscle in the calf issue, so after the international break probably – I don’t think there’s anything earlier possible. We will have to see.”
Keita, however, is a less serious injury concern for the Reds after sustaining a foot injury last time around in the Carabao Cup win over Norwich with the 26-year-old set to miss the Brentford showdown as Klopp voiced hope of Keita’s return in time for next week’s Champions League commitments.
“[It’s] nothing really serious, but it keeps him out of the next game for sure – and maybe a little bit longer, we have to see.
“It’s nothing serious but it’s obviously painful and we have to see how we can deal with it. Of course, it’s not cool when players have had a good pre-season, could play a lot of games and now are out. That happens throughout a season and hopefully when they come back then that’s it and they can play the rest of the season, that would be extremely helpful.”
