Who can we expect to see back against Palace?
While we might prefer to get back into rhythm quickly following the dire performance against Fulham on Saturday, Liverpool’s injury list might be grateful for the longer break until Monday night for the next competitive fixture.
Neil Jones of GOAL has written up a partial update on Liverpool’s injury list after the weekend, addressing the status of the 10 players currently sidelined.
Thiago Alcântara was forced off against Fulham, and his status is still unclear. Per Jones, “The Spaniard underwent a scan on Sunday, and Liverpool will hope to have caught the injury early, meaning a couple of weeks out, as opposed to four or more.”
Naby Keïta, who was out with non-COVID illness, returned to training over the weekend, so we can expect to have him back fully fit for Palace.
Curtis Jones suffered a “stress reaction” in his cameo in the Community Shield, and will likely be out a couple more weeks yet.
Ibrahima Konaté, who suffered a knee injury via a collision in Liverpool’s last public pre-season friendly, is said to be out for another month, per recent estimations.
Diogo Jota suffered a hamstring injury in the first pre-season training session, and should be back within the month. Jones tempers expectations, though, by noting that he certainly lacks the fitness levels the rest of the squad have reached in pre-season, so he might be limited even when he returns to full fitness injury-wise.
Kostas Tsimikas is expected to return to full training this week, while Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is expected to be out at least another two months.
Caoimhín Kelleher found himself also injured in pre-season, and prior to the Community Shield Jürgen Klopp said he was expected to be out another two-to-three weeks; as such, we could see him back in training next week at the earliest.
Calvin Ramsay is close to a return to fitness — though he is likely to train with the U21s rather than the first team. Similarly, Kaide Gordon is set to be back within the next week or so, but will also likely rebuild his fitness with the youth side.
It’s a long list, and Liverpool will hope to see it become shorter rather than longer over coming weeks.