Liverpool duo Alisson and Diogo Jota are expected to miss the start of the new season after sustaining injuries.
The duo were unable to play a part in Liverpool’s preseason game against Crystal Palace as Jurgen Klopp has now confirmed their injury issues.
Liverpool face Manchester City in the season’s curtain raiser Community Shield. Klopp will have to do without Jota and Alisson against the Premier League champions.
Klopp speaks on Liverpool duo’s unavailability
Klopp feels while the Brazilian goalkeeper faces a race against time for making the City clash, Jota is completely out of the equation.
“Ali [Alisson], I think, has a chance for City but Diogo [Jota] not. Ali, he feels a muscle, abdominal. It’s nothing serious but, again, we prepare a full season,” said Klopp.
He added, “So he [Alisson] can train but just not like before, so he should not play in the moment. He should not be out for too long but every day he is not involved is too long.”
Further reports tell that Jota will undergo scans for his suspected hamstring injury.
The Portuguese has reportedly hurt the same muscle which sustained an injury when he was on international duty at the UEFA Nations League this summer.
Liverpool fear Jota could be out for long if the injury recurs. Klopp too admitted, “Diogo, unlucky eh? He had an injury from the end of last season. He trained yesterday fully and got injured again. That’s really not cool.”
“We have to wait for the results and he had an assessment this morning. Then we have to see. Is it his hamstring? We will see. It is in the same region.”
Some relief for the Reds in Chamberlain’s knock
On the other hand, Klopp has a glimmer of hope amidst the injury crisis. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain suffered another knock during the Palace game and was taken off after just 44 minutes.
The 28-year-old sat on the pitch signalling a hamstring injury. Chamberlain’s stint at Merseyside has been an injury-plagued one forcing him to mis more than 50% of the Reds’ games.
However, Klopp with a sigh of relief revealed that Chamberlain’s knock is a minor one. “It’s pretty disappointing for us because Ox trained all the time really well since the pre-season started,” said the German.
“It happened obviously with Ox in the past when it gets more intense and something can happen. Now this is just a muscle thing and that’s OK. We had worse situations, so I’m OK with it.”
Liverpool will be sweating on Jota’s injury since his unavailability will leave Klopp with Salah, Diaz and Firmino as the only experienced forwards.
New signing Darwin Nunez is yet to settle and Jota’s long-term absence could hamper Liverpool’s results.