Liverpool will return to action next weekend when they take on Wolves in matchweek five of the Premier League and right now, Jurgen Klopp is dealing with a few injury issues.
Klopp will be without Virgil van Dijk who is going to serve an extra one-match ban after picking up a red card against Newcastle United. Van Dijk’s absence is already going to be a cause of concern for the manager but to add to this, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Ibrahima Konate are also expected to miss out on Saturday.
Trent sustained a minor hamstring strain during the 3-0 win over Aston Villa and the full-back has been ruled out for two weeks which means he is going to miss the trip to Molineux.
Konate is closer to full fitness and there are whispers that because he has gotten the international break to recover, the full-back could be available for selection for Saturday’s trip.
If Konate, Van Dijk and TAA are all missing then Klopp will have to restructure his back line making Joe Gomez play at right-back and then bringing in Jarell Quansah alongside Joel Matip. Quansah, so far, has made two substitute appearances for the Reds but if Gomez has to play on the right then he could get his first start.
Apart from these three players, Thiago Alcantara is also going to be absent as the midfielder recently suffered a setback from his injury recovery.
“Thiago had a little setback. He started training with the team and had a little setback so we have to slow down there a little bit,” Klopp has confirmed.
“It’s not cool for him, it’s not cool for us but it’s how it is. Thiago will use the (September) international break for that, to be up to speed I’m pretty sure. It should hopefully be enough. All the rest are available.”
Thiago’s hip injury should not be any cause of concern for the Liverpool manager because Klopp has managed to bring in midfield reinforcements in the summer.
Liverpool have picked up 10 points from their first four league matches and on paper, they will be the favourites to beat Wolves as well. However, a major defensive reshuffling could hamper the team’s balance, thereby giving Wolves a chance to pick up something on Saturday.
