Liverpool will head into their Saturday trip to Wolves without Trent Alexander-Arnold after manager Jurgen Klopp confirmed his star right-back remains out due to a hamstring injury.
The 24-year-old club vice-captain was withdrawn from Liverpool’s last Premier League match before the international break – a 3-0 win over Aston Villa – with 20 minutes to go.
Initially given a two-week timeframe for recovery after a scan revealed a minor strain, the England international reportedly took part in an individual training session on Thursday, but has been ruled out of contention this weekend.
“No concern, he’s not available, we knew that before,” Klopp said on Friday.
“It’s not the worst hamstring injury you can have, but it’s a hamstring injury – they barely heal in two weeks and this one didn’t either.
“He’s running already but we hope he can start ball work early next week and then we will see. We will go from there.”
As for the rest of his squad, Klopp noted that Thiago Alcantara is back running but will not be ready for the Wolves match, while Ibrahima Konate has trained twice this week.
Ryan Gravenberch, the deadline day signing from Bayern Munich, has settled in after skipping international duty with the Netherlands.
The Liverpool boss also revealed he had read Jordan Henderson‘s interview with The Athletic. The former club captain made a controversial move to Saudi Arabian club Al-Ettifaq after more than a decade at Anfield.
“Hendo told the truth, we talked and I told him there was a possibility of not playing regularly,” Klopp said. “If Hendo would have performed, he’d have played. I thought it was important to talk openly. Hendo is a super guy but he is not great when he is not playing.
“He was my captain. I didn’t want to lock horns because he thought he would be starting. He took that to mean we didn’t want him here. I couldn’t tell him he would start and that is why it is better that he moved on.”
When quizzed on the future of star forward Mohamed Salah, Klopp maintained he was “not worried” despite continued interest from potential suitors including Saudi Pro League club Al-Ittihad, adding “we will see what happens” when the transfer window reopens in January.
Who could replace Alexander-Arnold this weekend?
After Alexander-Arnold left the field against Villa two weeks ago, Joe Gomez filled in at right-back for the remainder of the match.
With the versatile James Milner joining Brighton this summer, Gomez is perhaps the most likely candidate to slot in on the right of Liverpool’s backline once more on Saturday as the Reds look to extend their unbeaten start this season.
Meanwhile, Alexander-Arnold’s share of set pieces would most likely fall to Salah for direct free kicks, with Andy Robertson – who could captain his club this weekend in the absence of both Alexander-Arnold and Virgil Van Dijk – and summer signing Dominik Szoboszlai taking charge of corners and indirect freekicks.
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