In order to prepare Liverpool for Arsenal in their Emirates FA Cup third-round match, Jürgen Klopp must make at least three changes to his starting lineup.
Dominik Szoboszlai, Wataru Endo, and Mohamed Salah will not be playing at Emirates Stadium on Sunday. Endo and Salah have left for international duty, and Szoboszlai is recovering from a hamstring injury he suffered on Monday during the 4-2 victory against Newcastle United.
Speaking at the pregame press conference on Friday morning, Klopp stated that the Reds’ number eight will miss a minimum of two games: the trip to Arsenal and the first leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final against Fulham on Wednesday.
“I can attest that it is an injury and not a possible one. Hamstring muscle. Yet we’ll have to wait and see,” the manager remarked of Szoboszlai.
“We will have to wait a little while, but Dom is really upbeat and doesn’t have much pain. Therefore, there is obviously no hope for Sunday or Wednesday. No.
“After that, we’ll see; hopefully, he might return, but we’re not sure.”
Other than that, Klopp did not disclose any new ailments to his team. Long-term absentees include Andy Robertson, Joel Matip, Ben Doak, Stefan Bajcetic, Thiago Alcantara, and Kostas Tsimikas.
“Szoboszlai’s injury was the only real incident; nothing else really happened,” he continued.
“Let’s hope that today is the same as yesterday, when the rest were available and fully fit, and we won’t have an option.”
Oleksandr Zinchenko of Arsenal, who missed the Gunners’ 2-1 loss at Craven Cottage last Sunday due to a calf injury, will be evaluated before to the match.
“He is making good progress. Mikel Arteta told the media on Friday, “We have another training session tomorrow and we will evaluate whether he is available or not to play and start the game.”
Takehiro Tomiyasu and Mohamed Elneny are not available because they have joined Salah and Endo with Egypt and Japan, respectively, and Fabio Vieira, Thomas Partey, and Jurrien Timber are injured.
Arteta said, “We will see on Sunday; I cannot give you the line-up right now,” when asked which goalie he would use.