Jurgen Klopp has a game in mind for Fabinho to return from injury. The Brazilian will likely miss a few games before that, however.
Fabinho won’t face West Ham United today – but we knew that. He picked up an injury ahead of the game against Tottenham Hotspur in midweek, ruling him out for a little while.
Unfortunately, Joel Matip then picked up another injury in that game. Liverpool are now without Virgil van Dijk, Joe Gomez, Matip and Fabinho – in other words, their only senior defensive options.
It’s a ridiculous situation but one Jurgen Klopp must manage over the next few games. We imagine that means Jordan Henderson alongside Nat Phillips later today.
Beyond that, perhaps a signing – reports indicate that, certainly.
But Fabinho will be back at some point. His injury doesn’t appear to be too bad and Klopp has a game in mind for his return.
“Minor issues nowadays are at least three games,” said Klopp.
“Depending on the week, it could be four games,” he said, per the BBC. “I think the game when ‘Fab’ could be back is [Manchester] City.”
That fixture takes place at Anfield on February 6th and promises to be one of the season’s biggest.
What RTK has to say
Yeah, that’s the one. Liverpool should absolutely prioritise that game – there’s little need to risk him against either West Ham or Brighton.
Liverpool seeing off Spurs suggests they’ve got enough without Fabinho to win those two games. So just make sure the Brazilian is back for the 6th.
That’s the game we’re also hoping to see Diogo Jota. Exactly how possible that is, we’re not sure but it lines up with the initial timescale.
Having both back would help immeasurably against the league leaders. But Fabinho is undoubtedly the priority.
Winning without him feels incredibly unlikely, so fingers crossed it’s a speedy recovery.
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