It never rains, it pours for Liverpool. Just when the Premier League champions thought their injury problems couldn’t get any worse,
Fabinho has been ruled out of Saturday’s clash with Leicester. The news was revealed by Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp, who said the Brazilian is out with a thigh strain ahead of the top of the table fixture. “Fabinho will not be available by the way,” he told Sky Sports reporters. “He suffered a little muscle injury so will be out for this game.
So we have to fund a solution – all of them had the chance in training this week to show who’s ready, so I have to make a decision tomorrow.” Klopp’s side have been without their talismanic centre half Virgil Van Dijk for the majority of the season, after the Dutch international tore his cruciate knee ligament.
Further injuries to Joel Matip and Joe Gomez have compounded the Reds’ problems, and they’ve been forced to work with a makeshift defence with midfielders Henderson and Fabinho deployed at centre half. With Fabinho now out injured, one of the younger players will likely get the nod, although Klopp is worried about Leicester’s star striker, Jamie Vardy. “Jamie is obviously a proper challenge in this league.
You have to avoid the passes to him. He’s a world class player for sure, in a specific area of the pitch and with his speed that’s really tricky.” As well as the injury crisis that’s deepening, there are some concerns over the form of goalkeeper Allison. The usually dependable Brazilian made a number of costly errors against Manchester City last weekend, but Klopp says his number 1 is still confident going into Saturday’s clash.
“We of course had a little talk. He was not happy that it happened, but it’s very important in a moment like this to realise that in a long career keepers can make mistakes. He’s a very calm person.” Liverpool will look to bounce back from their 4-1 defeat at Anfield – their third home loss in a row – but free scoring Leicester are in red hot form, so this will be another tough test for Klopp’s men.