Liverpool will have to do without Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah in the league match against Southampton on Tuesday. Both regulars from coach Jürgen Klopp’s team had to be replaced on Saturday due to injuries in the FA Cup final against Chelsea and Klopp confirmed that they are not available for the competition game. However, the German coach said he is confident that the two will be fit in time for the Champions League final at the end of this month, with the possibility of making their return as early as next weekend on the final day of the Premier League.
“We are going to put together a team that will do everything to win the game,” Klopp said. “We have to see who else is available to play. The 30 minutes we had to play extra on Saturday in our final win make a big difference. The boys have been mainly on the massage table since then. We haven’t talked about Southampton at all. “This will be our sixtieth game of the season. We have to be very careful with the players, because it’s not like our season ends on Tuesday.”
Liverpool are now 4 points behind leaders Manchester City in the Premier League. With a win at Southampton, the ‘Reds’ will enter the last round on Sunday with 1 point behind. A week later, on May 28, Klopp’s team will play the final of the Champions League against Real Madrid.
“I think Southampton has had ten days of rest before this game. Those guys are completely fresh. They are playing their last home game of the season, just before they go on holiday,” said Klopp. “Of course they will put pressure on them and shoot from all possible angles. A lot of players played 120 minutes with us on Saturday. Why don’t we get some more rest and play this game on Wednesday or Thursday? But nobody thinks about that.”
Brazilian midfielder Fabinho, who suffered a muscle injury last week, will not participate against Southampton in any case. “But his recovery is going very well,” said Klopp.
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