Liverpool’s assistant manager Pep Lijnders sounded out confirmation that midfielder Fabinho will miss the EFL Cup Preston clash on Wednesday night.
The Brazil international had been sidelined for the weekend win at Old Trafford and his exclusion when the teamsheets were announced was subject to much surprise with no prior information of an injury.
In his pre-match press conference, Lijnders admitted that Fabinho was still on the recovery table ahead of the midweek contest away at Championship outfit Preston North End in the EFL Cup Round of 16.
“Fabinho will not be ready for tomorrow’s game, we will assess him day by day still. He can make the game on Saturday hopefully.
Fabinho’s trouble on the injury front will add to Liverpool’s woes with the likes of Thiago Alcantara, James Milner and Naby Keita all ruled out of the forthcoming fixture awaiting the high-flying Merseysiders.
Alisson Becker’s go-to deputy between the sticks Caoimhin Kelleher is also sidelined for the Preston showdown, confirmed Lijnders, despite the shot-stopper taking part in the training.
“Millie felt something, he felt something wasn’t right in his hamstring, a little bit tight.
“Then [Mason] Greenwood made this run and he decides, ‘I need to catch him’ – how Millie is, putting the team always first. And that created a bigger injury in that moment, that run.
“It shows a lot about his character and his will power to put the team first. This [injury] will be until the international break for sure, so it’s a long one. But we will need him in the coming period.
“Naby has a bruise in this moment, we assess it day by day. It’s looking good, so that’s good.
“Then we have Thiago as well, who is closer to team training than ever. He will be later in the week with the team training. Probably Brighton comes too early but it’s good that he is back, especially in the situation we are in.”
“Not sure, he trained with the team but it seems he had a little setback so he probably will not be involved.”
