Liverpool have injury problems to contend with for tomorrow’s game with Southampton.
That’s according to The Times who report that both Virgil Van Dijk and Mohamed Salah are ruled out of the trip to St Mary’s.
Both were forced to leave the pitch early during Saturday’s FA Cup final win over Chelsea, with the Champions League final now less than two weeks away. As a result, Jurgen Klopp will ‘take no risks’ with two of his key men.
Instead, Klopp is reportedly set to make ‘a host of changes.’ The likes of Joe Gomez, James Milner and Kostas Tsimikas are in line to start for The Reds.
It ‘remains to be seen’ whether both Salah and Van Dijk will be risked for Liverpool’s final game of the Premier League season on Sunday.
Liverpool walking a tightrope
After such a gruelling season, it’s vital that Liverpool see out the final weeks as well as they can on the injury front.
Having come so far, it would be a real shame to see chances of a treble or quadruple go up in smoke so late in the day.
Should Salah and, perhaps more crucially Van Dijk, be unavailable for the final in Paris, it would certainly lessen Liverpool’s chances.
Both players have been relaxed about their chances of making the game a week on Saturday, which is encouraging. However, time is not on Liverpool’s side. Any setback now and players will surely have no chance of facing Real Madrid.
Madrid resting up before the final
After Manchester City dropped points yesterday, Liverpool are still in with a sniff of winning the Premier League. That means that despite the fact that Liverpool have injury problems, Klopp will still have to go strong.
That’s in complete contrast to Real Madrid. They wrapped up the title before April had even turned to May. As a result, they’ve been resting key players for fun in the games since.
Hopefully The Reds come through the final two Premier League games unscathed. They’ll need all their quality and experience to overcome a remarkably resilient Madrid.
With Van Dijk and Salah in the side, that becomes a whole lot easier. Without them, well, it almost doesn’t bear thought.
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