Liverpool midfielder Naby Keita withdraws from national squad due to injury
According to the Evening Standard, Liverpool ace Naby Keita has pulled out of the Guinea squad due to a knee issue ahead of their upcoming international friendlies. The 27-year-old midfielder is slated to stay back at Kirby to further assess the situation.
The former RB Leipzig midfielder started the FA Cup tie against Nottingham Forest most recently and was replaced by Jordan Henderson in the second half of the match. Keita has struggled to get any real momentum going for him ever since making the switch to Anfield.
Injuries have been a regular occurrence ever since he has donned the Liverpool jersey severely limiting the amount of playing minutes under his belt. This could be an alarming concern for the Merseysiders who head into the business end of the season with an eye on the unprecedented quadruple.
The Anfield outfit have tried their best to aptly rotate their squad in a bid to preserve the fitness of their core players. Jurgen Klopp would thus be looking to have every available option as they head into the business end of the season.
The club have also looked to have received a significant setback with Trent Alexander-Arnold also nursing a hamstring issue. Thankfully it does not appear to be too serious and he could return sooner than anticipated.
Whilst the club does have suitable replacements for the Guinean international, there is very little cover for Alexander-Arnold. Neco Williams is currently out on loan at Fulham and Joe Gomez is most likely to deputise in the absence of the 23-year-old English defender.
Keita when fit has shown great ability on the ball also possessing the ability to hit a thunderous long-range shot every now and then. His ability to keep the ball is also another key opponent and Klopp will be hoping that this issue won’t keep him out for the long term.
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The 27-year-old doesn’t have a great history with respect to injuries in the last couple of seasons. Hence the latest development has put us in a spot of bother but hopefully the Guinean international will recover in time to play an important role for us this campaign as we fight for every piece of silverware
