has provided the latest injury updates on a number of his players ahead of Liverpool’s clash against Fulham on Saturday.
The Reds will be looking to get the new season off to the best possible start at Craven Cottage.
Liverpool have many injury doubts going into the first weekend of the 2022/23 campaign, with key players also missing in the Community Shield.
One of those missing was talismanic goalkeeper Alisson, who suffered an abdominal problem and wasn’t passed fit for the victory at the King Power Stadium, while winger Diogo Jota was also absent.
Ibrahima Konate was taken off during Liverpool’s final pre-season friendly of the summer against Strasbourg, while Jota has been suffering with a reoccurrence of a hamstring injury.
Klopp said Konate will be out for ‘a while’ but the Reds boss confirmed that Alisson is ready to start against Fulham, meanwhile, Jota remains sidelined.
‘We have too many injuries, that’s true, but in the moment nothing changed,’ said Klopp. ‘There were a lot of unlucky situations; started with Caoimhin [Kelleher], started with Diogo pretty much. One was injured, the other one got a re-injury, it was not 100 per cent clear.
‘There’s no criticism, because you made a story of everything that I say but it is like this – he’s with the national team, both of them were with their national teams. There is a diagnosis, we get the diagnosis, we trust the diagnosis, that’s completely normal, but you are not in the full process all the time. The national team takes over in moments, we try to step in as early as possible.
‘Diogo it was obviously slightly too early, or the injury was different in the first place. They are already fine and in a few weeks they will be back.’
‘Alisson is fine,’ Klopp added. ‘We hope with Curtis [Jones] we caught it in the right moment, that’s just how it is with young players. They have some kind of stress reactions sometimes and then if they go over it because it’s not massive pain, it could lead to something serious.
‘We caught it early but we still have to be careful. That’s it with him, so he is not in.
‘Naby [Keita] is ill, but I think he will be back today the first day. I underestimated it a little bit when I said he will definitely be fine. He came in yesterday and still showed some little symptoms, no COVID but it is not right. I guess he will be back today.
‘Then Kostas [Tsimikas] [was] unlucky in a training situation. I saw him now, he was out on the pitch and he might be – in his opinion, anyway – ready to train next week, which is helpful. Ibou [Konate], in a challenge in the game against Strasbourg, what happened there we have to see how long it will take but he is out for a while. Oxlade [Chamberlain] [is also out], of course.’
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