Joel Matip and James Milner will not feature in Liverpool's third-round League Cup tie against Derby County on Wednesday evening, Pep Lijnders has confirmed.
Milner suffered concussion against Napoli last Tuesday and was therefore unable to train until Monday morning. However, the Liverpool assistant manager has confirmed that the clash with the League One side has come too soon for the veteran midfielder and so too for Matip.
“Millie will definitely be ready for Southampton but this game [against Derby] comes too early for tomorrow," Lijnders told Liverpoolfc.com. “Then we have of course Joel, who is getting closer to team training but will not make Southampton probably."
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Here is a reminder of those currently out of action and their expected return dates.
Luis Diaz
There was, however, a positive update on Luis Diaz - who has been sidelined for over a month after he picked up a knee injury in the 3-2 defeat against Arsenal in October.
The diagnosis resulted in the Liverpool winger being ruled out of all of the games prior to the World Cup break. But on Tuesday, Lijnders revealed that the Colombian will start running on the grass at the AXA Training Centre on Thursday morning as he takes a sizeable step up in his rehabilitation.
“The longer injuries, Luis Diaz is running for the first time on Thursday," added Lijnders. "That’s good news because we all know how important he was last year and in the second half of the season.
Diogo Jota
The 25-year-old was stretchered off against Manchester City with a calf injury and will now be out of action for the coming weeks, resulting in Jota playing no part for Portugal at the upcoming World Cup. Ahead of Liverpool's meeting with West Ham earlier this month, Klopp provided the following statement on Jota: “It’s really not good news about Diogo. Yes, he will miss the World Cup. [It’s a] pretty serious injury in the calf muscle and now the recovery process starts. That’s it pretty much."
Arthur Melo
On-loan midfielder Arthur Melo will miss between three and four months of action after a quad issue he picked up in training required surgery. He is not expected to feature until 2023.
The Brazilian, who arrived on Merseyside on a season-long loan on transfer deadline day, had been keen to make up for a lack of a pre-season with his parent club Juventus and therefore used the recent international break to train and play with Barry Lewtas' under-21s team in the hope of forcing his way into Klopp's side.
However, the latest injury setback of the 26-year-old's career has left his hopes of breaking into the Reds' XI - and earning a recall to Tite's Brazil squad for the World Cup - in ruins as prepares for a lengthy spell on the sidelines.
Naby Keita
Naby Keita recently returned to first-team training but is still not in contention to feature in Klopp's side. His only appearance of the current campaign came from the bench during the Reds' Community Shield triumph over Manchester City.
Speaking about the midfielder ahead of the League Cup tie against the Rams, Lijnders revealed the midfielder will continue to train individually and will therefore be unlikely to feature in either of the Reds' two games prior to the mid-season break.
“Naby will be difficult, he’s still training individually," said Lijnders. "Let’s see for Southampton."
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