9 months ago
133 Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has been putting the Reds players through their paces ahead of their return to Premier League action.
Anfield will play host to Liverpool against Burnley in a 3pm kickoff on Saturday, and Klopp has some personnel issues to contend with.
Thiago Alcantara and Dominik Szoboszlai will be absent for Liverpool due to injury, while Ibrahima Konate is suspended and Conor Bradley is on compassionate leave.
Those four players have joined Kostas Tsimikas, Mohamed Salah, Stefan Bajcetic and Joel Matip on the sidelines for the meeting against the Clarets.
To make things worse, Klopp admitted to the Liverpool media team on Friday that there’s a “bit of a flu” doing the rounds among the Reds squad.
On Thursday, the Reds published photos from their latest training session at the time, and a number of academy players were spotted alongside the seniors.
One of those was Lewis Koumas, a Liverpool academy attacker who has been in outstanding form for the Reds youth teams this term.
The 18-year-old has 10 goals and three assists from 14 outings for the Reds at Under-18 and Under-21 level.
Koumas, the son of retired Wales international Jason Koumas, also made the Liverpool matchday squad in December’s Europa League meeting with Union SG.
The Liverpool website has described Koumas as a ‘talented attacker’. He joined the Reds academy from Tranmere Rovers as an Under-11 player and has progressed through the ranks at Kirkby.
Liverpool talent Lewis Koumas is ‘a really good footballer’
In November last year, Liverpool youth manager Barry Lewtas sung Koumas’ praises, in conversation with the Reds media team.
“Lewis has been brilliant for us, he really has,” said Lewtas. “He’s a real energetic frontline player, loves to run in behind, he is aggressive in how he approaches the game and has really good technique.
“He is a really good footballer. He has fitted in great with the lads, he has a fantastic character and he just gets on with it, he really does.
“The other day when we were talking about Lewis, you forget he is still an U18 player. He has really matured the way he plays.
“Against Barrow, playing against a senior backline, I thought he was great for us and for them he was an absolute nuisance, the way he played and approached the game.
“I’m really pleased for Lewis. He has shown good versatility playing across the frontline this season and he is a player who has made massive progress this year.”
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