This weekend, Liverpool will travel to the south coast to play Brighton and Hove Albion in an FA Cup fourth-round match. However, Jurgen Klopp has been struck yet another injury setback in form of Fabio Carvalho.
The Reds can’t seem to shake off the injury crisis that are following them from last season. The injury bench is already crowded, and adding numbers to it will look more dreadful than before.
Klopp confirms Carvalho injury
Fabio Carvalho is the most recent player to join the lengthy injury list gathering at Anfield, the Liverpool manager announced during his pre-game news conference.
Klopp:
“Fabio has a little thing, but he will not be ready, Maybe he can train today but will not be 100 per cent for the weekend.”
The injury to Carvalho will undoubtedly frustrate Klopp since the manager prefers to rotate his players as often as he can in the FA Cup to keep them fresh for the hectic schedule of games in the second half of the season.
The Reds injury list
The Reds are currently ninth in the Premier League, were eliminated from the Carabao Cup, and have a significant two-leg Champions League match against their European rivals Real Madrid coming up in a few weeks. The German manager will do his best to make sure his team is prepared for the challenges ahead.
When Liverpool travels to Brighton without Carvalho, Luis Diaz, Diogo Jota, Virgil van Dijk, Arthur Melo, and Roberto Firmino, the manager’s options will be significantly limited.
The 20-year-old attacker has made 11 Premier League appearances so far this season, and despite only playing an average of 31 minutes per game and losing even more favor since Cody Gakpo’s arrival, he has scored two goals, completed 50% of his dribbles successfully, averaged one shot on goal, and won 1.8 duels per game.
Brighton has previously defeated the Merseysiders 3-0 at home earlier this month and 3-3 in October, so Klopp will undoubtedly feel the pressure when he returns to the Amex Stadium on Sunday. Klopp will be looking to break the pattern and go to the next round with ease.
To beat an in-form Brighton team tomorrow, Klopp will need to select his strongest lineup possible since losing the FA Cup would be disappointing for the Anfield supporters and would further damage the team’s morale.
