Jurgen Klopp addressed the media ahead of Liverpool’s scoreless draw with Bayern Munich at Anfield and said that Dejan Lovren is likely to miss out on Sunday’s trip to Old Trafford.
The Croatia international has been struggling with his hamstring since December and had returned to his home country for specialist treatment.
But Liverpool are in a title race at the moment and their key players should stick around injured or not. I would have thought a club of their size would have the required equipment to treat Lovren in Merseyside rather than Croatia…
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That said, we’ve seen it happen at United in the past. Wayne Rooney jetting off to America for treatment and Marcos Rojo even returned to Argentina recently to recover from injury.
Lovren, of course, missed Liverpool’s 0-0 draw with Bayern and while Klopp made it sound like he was close to returning, the 29-year-old is not in contention to face United at the weekend.
“There was not a real doubt, to be honest,” Klopp said, as quoted by the Liverpool Echo.
“It was not mind games but Dejan had no chance for the game today actually, I don’t think he even has a chance for the next game [against Manchester United]. He will take his time.”
The German coach opted to play Fabinho and Joel Matip in defence against the Bundesliga giants, with Virgil van Dijk suspended. He will return in time for the United match and is likely to be partnered by Fabinho, who made some important challenges on Tuesday night.
This isn’t exactly worth getting excited over. Lovren doesn’t fill Liverpool fans with confidence, but Van Dijk is good enough to fill some of the holes he leaves in defence.
