Jurgen Klopp has confirmed that Fabinho will not be in the Liverpool starting line-up for tomorrow’s clash with Southampton.
Speaking to the press via Liverpool FC on YouTube, The Reds boss indicated that Fabinho’s recovery is going to plan. However, he won’t be ready to play on Tuesday.
“(Fabinho’s responding) very well, but he will not be involved tomorrow,” said Klopp. “But very good.”
Good to hear that the Liverpool number 3 is heading in the right direction. He was always unlikely to feature against the Saints, all eyes are focussed on getting him ready for Paris.
All change for Liverpool
Klopp didn’t give too much away in his pre-match press conference as to who will be in the Liverpool starting line-up tomorrow.
It’s safe to assume at this point that the manager will err on the side of caution with his team selection though.
The game tomorrow is a big one for Liverpool, there’s no questioning that. But given the likelihood of The Reds catching Manchester City at the top of the Premier League, it will take a backseat to the Champions League final.
Liverpool are already without Virgil Van Dijk and Mohamed Salah. Important players like Trent Alexander-Arnold, Thiago Alcantara and Sadio Mane are likely to be given the night off, too.
Instead, players such as Joe Gomez, Curtis Jones and even Divock Origi may be needed to step in. The quality is there from these back-up’s and they should be as fresh as anybody.
There’s a Champions League final to think about too. They’ll all be hopeful of catching Klopp’s eye before the big one at the end of the month.
It’s often at times like these where football throws up some unlikely heroes. Kostas Tsimikas was the latest beneficiary of that on Saturday afternoon.
Should Liverpool find a way to move to within a point of City tomorrow, it could be that they have one of their less heralded stars to thank for it.