Liverpool return to Premier League action with a trip to Wolves on Saturday, but boss Jurgen Klopp is facing an injury crisis after Thursday morning’s training session
Trent Alexander-Arnold, Thiago Alcantara, and Darwin Nunez were all missing from Liverpool’s training session on Thursday morning.
The trio have all been struggling with injury in recent weeks and look set to have handed boss Jurgen Klopp a major headache ahead of the Premier League’s return. The Reds travel to Wolves on Saturday lunchtime in their first game since the international break
But their good start to the new season looks set to be derailed with a selection crisis in defence. Captain Virgil van Dijk is suspended after his one-match ban for a red card against Newcastle was upgraded for his tirade at referee John Brooks.
Stand-in skipper Alexander-Arnold limped out of the following week’s win against Aston Villa with a hamstring injury. He was forced to pull out of the England squad as a result and looks to be in a race against time to feature against Wolves.
Klopp had played down the extent of the right-back’s problem following the win over Villa. But Alexander-Arnold being absent from training suggests he has suffered a blow to his hopes of returning quickly.
Thiago has been working his way back to fitness after undergoing surgery on a hip injury in the summer. Klopp confirmed that he returned to team training last month, but his absence on Thursday suggests he has suffered a setback.
Ibrahim Konate missed Liverpool’s last two games before the international break with a thigh injury and was not called up by France, but has returned to training. With both him and Alexander-Arnold facing a race to be fit, Klopp may have to experiment in defence.
That could see Joe Gomez come in at right-back with Joel Matip and Jarell Quansah in the centre of defence. Nunez’s absence on Thursday will also be a huge blow as the attacker began to hit his stride just before the break.
He scored two goals to complete a comeback win over Newcastle before notching an assist in the defeat of Villa. But the attacker was withdrawn at half-time during Uruguay’s clash with Ecuador.
Boss Marcelo Bielsa revealed the Liverpool star had been suffering from muscle discomfort which enforced his substitution. Uruguay would go on to lose the World Cup qualifier, having beaten Chile at the weekend, a win in which Nunez played a key role.
Klopp had already expressed his concern before the international break over his South American stars, such as Nunez, Luis Diaz and Alexis MacAllister, having excess travel in addition to their match workload – which may put a strain on their sharpness ahead of domestic football returning.
“The boys fly now all over the world now, which is horrible,” he said earlier this month. “Pretty much 48 hours after our South Americans play somewhere on the other end of the world, we will play against Wolverhampton Wanderers. That will be a tough one so we have to make sure that we are ready and we will give it a go.”
