Liverpool will be without eight first-team players for the Crystal Palace game
According to Liverpool Echo, Liverpool will be without eight first-team players for their upcoming Premier League game against Crystal Palace at Anfield under lights on Monday Night Football.
In addition to the six absentees for the Fulham game last week, Thiago picked up a hamstring injury during that game and is now destined to be out for around four to six weeks. To add to that, Joel Matip picked up a groin issue while training on Friday and is ruled out for this game.
The former Cameroon international isn’t expected to be out for long though, as he was taken out of training as a precautionary measure.
Amongst the other absentees are – Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (hamstring injury), Diogo Jota (hamstring injury), Curtis Jones (calf injury), Calvin Ramsay (undisclosed), Ibrahima Konate (knee), Caoimhin Kelleher (groin injury).
It is clear that the injury list of the Reds is rising every passing week, which are not good signs right at the start of this season. The only good news from those injuries is that none of the players are diagnosed to be missing a major part of the season.
The longest period is of Oxlade-Chamberlain, whose hamstring injury, picked up in a pre-season game against Crystal Palace itself, is out for a considerable amount of time.
Good news is that Naby Keita and Kostas Tsimikas are expected to be in the squad for this game. With Thiago out, there will also be an opportunity for the likes of Keita, Fabio Carvalho, and Harvey Elliott to take that third midfield spot and make it their own for the next few weeks.
Liverpool are favourites for this game without a doubt. With it being their first game back at Anfield for the new season, that too under lights, the atmosphere will be rocking.
The hope and expectation is that Jurgen Klopp’s men have learned their lesson following a slow start last week against Fulham and approach this game with the right attitude.
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We faced Crystal Palace in pre-season last year and came out winners by a 2-0 scoreline back then. However, friendly and competitive games are two wholly different things. Moreover, the Eagles would have a considerably stronger squad available for this game.
