Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has stated that no one at the club feels “self-pity” over their mounting injury worries.
Last year’s Premier League champions have been devastated by injuries this season, losing both Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez to long-term knee problems.
On top of this, talisman Mohamed Salah is a confirmed absentee for this weekend’s visit of Leicester City after testing positive for COVID-19, while Jordan Henderson, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Fabinho, Thiago Alcantara and Rhys Williams are also doubtful. This has left them with a highly limited squad, especially at the back.
Virgil van Dijk suffered a long-term knee injury in the Merseyside derby
However, manager Klopp has insisted that they are getting on with things as usual at Anfield.
Speaking in his press conference ahead of Sunday’s game, the German said (via BBC Sport): “We just take it game by game. There’s no season when you don’t have injury problems.
“Nobody here feels self-pity or sorry for ourselves, it’s just the situation. At the moment it hits you but the next moment you are in the solution process. We have players available and as long as we have 11 players we will fight for three points with all we have.”
The injuries couldn’t have come at a much worse time for the Reds. This weekend, they face table-toppers Leicester City, who have won each of their last six games in all competitions by an aggregate score of 15-2.
Vardy has picked up where he left off last season.
Liverpool could go back to the summit with a win depending on other results. However, Foxes striker Jamie Vardy is currently the Premier League’s joint-top goalscorer and will relish playing up against a weakened Liverpool backline.
This is followed by a Champions League group fixture against free-scoring Atalanta. Last season, Gian Piero Gasperini’s side netted 116 goals in all competitions. It could be a potential banana skin for the Reds, especially without a number of first-choice defensive players.