LONDON • Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp says his mounting injury list ahead of today's Champions League clash with Ajax means he does not have enough fit players to rotate his squad.
James Milner is the latest player on the sidelines after the utility man injured his hamstring in Saturday's Premier League draw at Brighton.
Trent Alexander-Arnold has not yet been given the green light to return to full training, while fellow defenders Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez are both out with long-term injuries. Midfield quartet Xherdan Shaqiri, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain as well as Naby Keita and Thiago Alcantara will also miss the game at Anfield.
Asked at his virtual pre-match press conference yesterday if fixture congestion meant he would have to prioritise between Europe and the league, Klopp said he was in no position to rotate his squad.
"I don't have enough players to prioritise. It's not about the competition it's about the players. On Saturday, the fittest players played," the German added.
On his ever-growing injury list, Klopp appeared resigned despite his recent rants at broadcasters BT Sport and Sky Sports for scheduling early kick-offs the past two Saturdays after playing in the Champions League in midweek.
"It's not a perfect situation but obviously, not enough people want to offer us any kind of help (with the fixture scheduling), not only for us but for (all) football people.
"We just have to deal with it," he said. "I said it always - as long as we can line up with 11 players, we will fight with all we have and that's still the case."
He also went into detail regarding Thiago's injury for the first time. The Spain international was poleaxed by Richarlison in the Merseyside derby on Oct 17.
The Everton forward was sent off for that and Klopp expressed his unhappiness at how bad the £25 million (S$44.7 million) signing from Bayern Munich, who has not played since, was hurt.
According to local daily Liverpool Echo, Thiago, who has made just two appearances for his new club, is unlikely to play again this year. Klopp revealed he suffered a "massive impact" to his knee.
He said: "That day when Thiago got injured in that challenge in the Everton game, there was another bad injury (to van Dijk) and after the scans, it was like one was really bad news and the other one was really good news because nothing was broken, nothing was ruptured.
"The problem is in a situation like that, nothing is ruptured, nothing is broken and that means everybody thinks, 'OK, you can go after a few days', but the impact on the leg was that big that it is still not OK. I can't say exactly when he will be fine, but it will take a few weeks still with Thiago."
The Reds will go through to the knockout stage from Group D if they avoid losing to Ajax and will be group winners if they win and Atalanta fail to beat Midtjylland.
REUTERS
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