Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has provided an update on the ankle injury suffered by left-back Alberto Moreno during his side’s brilliant 7-0 win over Spartak Moscow on Wednesday. Despite providing an encouraging update, Moreno’s participation remains a big doubt in this weekend’s Merseyside derby against Everton.
Moreno, 25, was forced out of the action on the stroke of half-time and left the field in tears after receiving treatment, following a clash with Spartak’s Roman Zobnin. The Spaniard seemed to have injured his ankle while blocking a shot. He courageously attempted to carry on but couldn’t bear the pain and was replaced by James Milner.
Klopp, who already has centre-back Joel Matip on the sidelines, thinks that the Reds may have got “lucky” with the knock, which did not seem to look “serious”.
“It was a strange situation,” Klopp was quoted by Liverpool Echo. “He’s a tough guy. If he can’t continue the game you must consider it is something serious but in the treatment room, it didn’t seem so serious. Maybe we have been lucky.”
“In the treatment room then, he was a little bit more positive, so maybe we are lucky and it’s not too serious. We will see.
“We need all the boys for the next few weeks, but especially in this week for the next game on Sunday…”
Regardless of sweating over Moreno’s injury, the Liverpool gaffer will certainly be encouraged by Milner’s second-half performance, during which he laid on 3 assists to guide our side to victory.
If Moreno gets ruled out against Everton, Milner can deputise at left-back after playing the 2016/17 season in that position when the Spaniard was struggling. Andrew Robertson could also fill the void left by Moreno.
Moreno has impressed our manager this season and has kept Robertson out of the picture. After his last season’s struggles, it looked like the left full-back would leave Anfield. But credit to the former Sevilla man for not bogging down and battling back into Klopp’s first-team plans this campaign.
Given the form that he is in, Moreno will be a big miss if he’s ruled out against Everton. Let’s hope the injury isn’t a serious one and our left-back gets fit ahead of the mega derby.
