Steve Nicol now believes that there is absolutely no chance of Luis Diaz playing in either of Liverpool’s games this week after his Carabao Cup final display on Sunday.
Luis Diaz was one of just four Liverpool players to play the full 120 minutes against Chelsea. Thankfully for the Reds, Virgil van Dijk was able to head home the winner towards the end of extra-time.
But, once again, the victory came at a cost for Jurgen Klopp’s side. Of course, the Reds have already lost a host of key players to injury this season. And Ryan Gravenberch had to be taken off during the first-half after a nasty challenge from Moises Caicedo. Gravenberch was on crutches during the post-match celebrations.
And perhaps he may not be the only starter facing a spell on the sidelines. Luis Diaz appeared to give absolutely everything while out on the pitch.
Photo by Julian Finney/Getty ImagesAnd speaking on ESPN, Steve Nicol believes that he may have sustained an injury which could rule him out of the FA Cup tie with Southampton and the trip to Nottingham Forest this weekend.
“That’s the problem. It’s okay if you can rotate and say you know what, I’ll rest four or five guys because it’s not as important as winning the league. He’s not in a position to do that. You saw the bare bones that he’s got. He finished with three first-team players. And he didn’t finish with three first-team players because he thought I’m going to rest some guys. He had absolutely no choice,” he said.
“And again, you can probably add Diaz to that, because having done it myself, the way he’s running around, it looks like a groin problem. And that means there’s no chance for Wednesday and absolutely no chance for the weekend if you’re lucky.”
It would be a big blow for Liverpool to lose Diaz for any period. The Colombian was, arguably on paper, the main threat in the Reds’ attack at Wembley. The likes of Mohamed Salah and Darwin Nunez missed the final due to injuries.
Harvey Elliott was lively, while Cody Gakpo is a fairly consistent performer. But none of the trio were able to make the difference against Chelsea.
So that may be a concern if Diaz does indeed not play this week.
The post 'No chance': Pundit thinks 27-year-old Liverpool star won't play this week after what he spotted at Wembley appeared first on TBR Football.