Liverpool return to Premier League action this weekend after a short winter break. Jurgen Klopp is unlikely to be given more options than the Reds’ Carabao Cup tie against Fulham.
League games against Bournemouth, Chelsea and Arsenal will follow, but clashes with Fulham (Carabao Cup second round) and Norwich City (FA Cup fourth round) are also scheduled.
The schedule remains busy and busy for the team, who are still competing in all the competitions they participated in at the start of the campaign.With an ever-expanding squad (at least with the exception of the FA Cup second leg against Arsenal), Liverpool are still missing many more players.
Liverpool’s midfield trio of Dominic Szoboslai, Thiago Alcantara and Stefan Vaicetic are all ruled out, but Klopp could provide yet another update on his potential return as early as Friday’s preview at Bournemouth.
Szoboszlai has hinted he could return to Bournemouth but did not take part in training on Wednesday, while Thiago and Wijketic could return in February. Left-back duo Andy Robertson and Kostas Tsimikas are still out, but the former could be back soon.
The Scotland captain took to Instagram to announce he had a “good week” of training earlier this week, almost three months since suffering a shoulder injury while playing for the national team. Joe Gomez will remain his agent for now and he has done a great job.
TrentAlexander-Arnold is not expected to return until later this month at the earliest. Conor Bradley is likely to play against Bournemouth, Fulham (Carabao Cup) and Norwich City (FA Cup). Mohamed Salah and Wataru Endo are on international duty in Egypt and Japan respectively and are yet to return.
Salah is set to play against Ghana tonight after his side drew with Mozambique in their first match. Ghana wants Cape Verde defeated. Endo’s Japanese team beat Vietnam 4-2 in the first game. They face Indonesia next Wednesday after their group stage with Iraq ends tomorrow. Japan are expected to make a big splash in the Asian Cup, so Endo is unlikely to return anytime soon.
However, Liverpool defensive midfielder Alexis McAllister is available again after returning from injury. Joel Matip is the only player likely to miss the rest of the season, while young winger Ben Doak is undergoing surgery.
