Dominik Szoboszlai was taken off with a thigh muscle strain in the second half of Liverpool’s league game against Newcastle this week and Jürgen Klopp confirmed the centre-forward’s injury ahead of this weekend’s FA Cup match at the Emirates.
“I can confirm that it is not a potential injury – it is an injury. It’s a muscle, a thigh muscle. But we need to see now. Dom is very positive, he doesn’t have big pains, but we have to wait a little bit more. So, obviously there is no chance for Sunday, and no chance for Wednesday. No. And then we’ll see, and then hopefully maybe he’ll come back, but we don’t know.”
What we do know is that Liverpool will be without Szoboszla for at least two games: in the FA Cup against Arsenal on Sunday and in the League Cup against Fulham on Wednesday.
Szoboszlai has been an important performer for Liverpool this season and the boss will be hoping he will be back to full fitness soon as the Reds cope with absences due to international competitions this month.
There are no other fresh injuries and the Reds will monitor the long-term absentees as they work to get back to fitness.
With the announcement of this weekend’s FA Cup match away at Arsenal, the manager confirmed that the central midfielder will miss at least two matches, adding that “we will see” regarding the matches that will follow.
He joins six teammates on the Reds’ current injured list, plus Wataru Endo and Mohamed Salah will miss up to eight games due to the Asian Cup and AFCON.
Left-backs Andy Robertson and Kostas Tsimikas remain out with shoulder injuries, although it is hoped that the former could return next month.
Joel Matip may have played his last game for the club as he suffered a hamstring injury last month against Fulham on Wednesday and his contract is due to expire in the summer.
Spanish midfield duo Thiago and Stefan Bajcetic are coming off a very frustrating fitness campaign, as Thiago hasn’t featured since April and Bajcetic has played just 72 minutes so far in the 2023/24 season.
Teenager Ben Doak has also been sidelined for a long time, as he needed surgery for a knee injury he suffered in December.