Liverpool Injury Update Ahead of Carabao Cup Final

Liverpool are heading into the business end of the season with all four competitions to fight for in Klopp’s final few months at the club. They take on Chelsea in the Carabao Cup final on the 25th of February at Wembley and will be keen on collecting the first silverware of the year.

However, Klopp will not be with a full-strength squad for the final. He has a few injury headaches ahead of the Chelsea clash but will be hoping that his available players can do the job like they did against the Blues earlier this year in the Premier League clash at Anfield.

Without further ado, here are the injury updates on Liverpool players ahead of the Carabao Cup final against Chelsea:

Joel Matip

The defender will not be available for Liverpool as he suffered an ACL injury earlier this season. The Senegal star is out for the season and will only be making his return in the summer. 

The center-back underwent a successful surgery in December and has been out of action since. His current contract at Anfield expires at the end of the season and he might have played his last game for the Reds.

Stefan Bajcetic

The young Spaniard has been out of action since September with a Calf injury and is yet to return to the squad. He is close to making his return to training and could be in the squad for the Carabao Cup final.

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It is his second lengthy injury layoff in the last 11 months, as he was out from March to May 2023 with an Adductor injury. Klopp will be hoping that he can at least have the young midfielder on the bench as Thiago is out injured. 

Thiago Alcantara

Thiago Alcantara made his much-awaited return for Liverpool against Arsenal earlier this month. However, he got injured in the game and has now been ruled out for the foreseeable future. 

The Spaniard was out of action with a hip injury since April 2023 and had made his return in the match against the Gunners at the start of February. He played just five minutes in the game but suffered a muscle injury. 

Klopp confirmed the injury and said: 

“The situation with Thiago is obviously not cool. We don’t know the extent yet. It’s not good news for him or the club, on top of losing the game. It’s not a big, big injury, definitely not, but it’s something nobody needed.”

Dominik Szoboszlai

Dominik Szoboszlai will be a big miss for Liverpool in the Carabao Cup final. Jurgen Klopp has hinted that the midfielder will not be fit for the match against Chelsea and admitted that they are taking things on a day-to-day basis. 

The Hungarian suffered a hamstring injury and has missed the last two matches. Klopp was asked about the midfielder in a recent press conference and he said:

“Like with all these tendon things, pretty quickly the player is pain free and then it’s all about the muscle. It’s pretty much the same injury as he had before; obviously it’s really not good that he got that again. It didn’t feel a great issue but when you see the pictures you just have to take him out. We are fighting for days, if you want. Is it Brentford [next Saturday], is it the final, or is it after the final? I don’t know at the moment.”

In recent press conference, he added, “Szoboszlai not ready yet, not team training yet”

Mohamed Salah

Mohamed Salah returned to Liverpool after suffering a hamstring injury while he was playing for Egypt at AFCON. He has been out of action since January and has missed the last six matches for club and country.

However, he is expected to make his return to training soon and could be in line to face his former club, Chelsea, in the Carabao Cup final. Klopp confirmed that Salah was on track to get fit and said: 

“[He is heading in the] right direction. We hope, but we don’t know, that he will be part of parts of training next week, but we have to see. He’s going through all the paces now but it’s positive, it’s either next week or the week after. If you ask him, it’s next week!”

Trent Alexander-Arnold

Trent Alexander-Arnold suffered a knee injury in Liverpool’s win over Burnley on Saturday. The right-back had just made a return to the starting XI and was taken off at halftime by Klopp.

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The Liverpool boss admitted that the injury was in the same area, and they are waiting for a report. The German manager will be hoping to see his star player back in time and could give him the last two weeks off to ensure that the defender is back for the Carabao Cup final. 

Klopp said after the win over Burnley:

“Same area in the knee. Nothing really bad but he felt it again and we have to see. We will assess it. We were made aware of it in the game, so we thought, ‘What can we do?’ Then Trent said, ‘No, it’s fine’. But it’s not as he feels it so we had to be careful and take him off.”

Joe Gomez and Alisson

Joe Gomez and Alisson missed the clash against Burnley on Saturday due to illness. The Liverpool stars reported unwell ahead of the match and were sent home by the staff.

Klopp confirmed that “Alisson is dealing with muscle injury, so ruled out”.

“We thought Joe Gomez would be back but he had a temperature yesterday so we had to send him home. Alisson felt unwell, couldn’t sleep or eat really so that’s not helpful.”

Conor Bradley

Conor Bradley was sensational for Liverpool when Trent Alexander-Arnold was unavailable. However, the young Liverpool star lost his father earlier this month and was given time off by the Reds.

The right-back is expected back in training this week and Klopp will be happy to welcome him following the injury to Trent. The German manager said:

“The boy gets as long as he needs with his family. I think from next week on he will be back in training, but we have to see, if he doesn’t feel ready for that, then that’s fine as well. There’s absolutely no rush from us. The only thing we want to do is to support him as much as we can.”

Liverpool will also hope that Konstantinos Tsimikas is back after he broke his collarbone in December. However, the Greek star will be a bench player as Andrew Robertson is back for Liverpool.