A first home defeat to Everton in 22 years wasn’t the only bit of bad news for Liverpool on Saturday with Jordan Henderson becoming the latest star player to join the ailing champions’ lengthy injury list.
Henderson limped off with what appeared to be a groin strain after half an hour, with Liverpool going on to lose the game 2-0 – their fourth consecutive home defeat.
The club captain becomes the fifth option at centre-back missing through injury with Virgil van Dijk, Joe Gomez, Joel Matip and Fabinho all absent from the matchday squad at Anfield.
With the champions slipping to sixth place in the Premier League table, Jurgen Klopp will be hoping for some good news when Henderson goes for a scan although his post-match quotes on Saturday suggest he is bracing himself for the worst.
“It’s the groin/adductor region and nobody in the medical department was positive about it,” the Liverpool manager said.
“It doesn’t look good, but we have to wait, of course, for the scan tomorrow [Sunday], hopefully.”
Henderson has already had one spell on the sidelines this season, missing 10 days of action in November after limping off in England’s 2-0 defeat to Belgium.
While new signing Ozan Kabak endured another difficult 90 minutes at the back, 23-year-old Nat Phillips at least impressed his manager when coming off the bench to replace Henderson.
“We have options, of course, but how difficult it makes it… it makes it really difficult,” Klopp added of Henderson’s injury.
“Nat was for sure not for one second our problem and even Hendo in the beginning of the game was really dominant, especially offensively.
“So, yes, it is a massive blow losing Hendo again. Massive. But Nat played a super game.
“Again, we meanwhile unfortunately got used to it that we have to change things and we just try to set up again for the next game. As long as we have 11 players we will do that.”
Klopp will also be hoping to have the likes of Fabinho, Naby Keita, Diogo Jota and James Milner back in action ahead of their next outing against Sheffield United on Sunday.
Speaking ahead of the Everton game on Friday, Klopp said: “Naby trained yesterday with the team, so we have to see what we make of it.
“Fab was not in training, all the others not as well. Nothing new.
“They all get closer – Fab gets closer, Millie gets closer and Diogo gets closer, but not close enough for the weekend.”
Wijnaldum: We cannot see ourselves as victims
By Carl Markham, Press Association
Liverpool midfielder Georginio Wijnaldum admits the players are experiencing a situation most have never been in before but insists they cannot afford to play the “victim role”.
The 2-0 defeat in the 238th Merseyside derby was the first time they had lost at Anfield to Everton since 1999 but, worse still, their fourth successive home league defeat means they are on their worst run since 1923.
Without fans inside the ground to offer their support there could be a tendency among the squad to feel the season is falling apart.
But Wijnaldum stressed that must not happen.
“This is a new situation we are in right now. In the previous seasons when we created so many chances, we always scored a goal,” he said..
“And now we’re in a period where we create a lot of chances but don’t score the goal. It’s frustrating, especially when you’re on the pitch and you’re playing.
“You don’t want to feel sorry for yourself and don’t want to go into the victim role.
“You just want to deal with the situation and try to bring it to a better end, or a good end, even if you know that you have a lot of injuries.
“I think that’s how we should look at the situation, not be the victims but just try to turn it around.
“We have a lot of games to turn it around – if we’re going to look at the situation as victims it’s going to be worse.
“What we can do is just try to give everything, try to keep confident and work all together to bring it [the season] to a better end.”
Liverpool are still alive and kicking in the Champions League, holding a 2-0 lead from the last-16 first-leg tie against RB Leipzig after a midweek performance which stood out as being markedly different from much of what has been seen in the last two months.
Klopp has seen positives in a lot of those matches and knows he must try to build on those elements to prevent the battle for a top four place becoming even more difficult.
He refused to accept, however, his side had plateaued after three seasons of success.
“Not all the games were the same. We were dominant in most of the games. In the decisive moments we make either a mistake, or something strange happens,” he said.
“That’s how it is: if we make a mistake it’s pretty much 100 per cent that the opponent scores from it and if we force them to make mistakes, it doesn’t mean we will immediately score.
“It’s no explanation to say that for three years we are really good and in the fourth it’s normal that we struggle.
“I don’t see any relation to the last three years. The boys are still full of desire but to change football games and results you have to be decisive in the offensive and defensive moments and that is what we are lacking.
“I don’t like to talk about the good parts of the (Everton) game because we lost the derby but from tomorrow on we have to use it again.
“We cannot change the situation by playing bad, that’s not possible, but in decisive moments we have to improve, that’s clear.”
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