Darwin Nunez is a doubt for Liverpool’s trip to face Nottingham Forest this weekend after Jurgen Klopp confirmed the Reds would have to make a late decision over his fitness.
The striker came off early in the second-half of Liverpool’s win over West Ham on Wednesday night, though Klopp suggested after the match that was a precaution due to Nunez, who scored the only goal in the match, feeling a tightness in his hamstring.
The Reds already have significant injury problems in forward areas, with Luis Diaz and Diogo Jota both out until after the World Cup, and Klopp admitted he is unsure whether Nunez will be available at the City Ground.
“He’s one of these we have to check now,” Klopp said in his press conference on Friday.
“He had treatment yesterday and we will see whatever we get told later.”
There is better news for Liverpool in that both Naby Keita and Ibrahima Konate will return to full first-team training at the start of next week, with the pair playing a combined 21 minutes of Premier League football so far this season.
Keita has been out of action since the Community Shield with a hamstring injury and while Klopp revealed that fitness was not an issue for the midfielder, the Liverpool boss confirmed that he would need time to get up to match sharpness.
“It was a tough injury, a serious injury and there’s only parts of training that he’s been a part of,” Klopp said.
“From Monday, Naby and Ibou will be involved in full team training, if everything goes to plan. That means from there we count days. His football pre-season starts then more of less, he’s really been out for a while.
He added: “It’s not a pre-season like five or six weeks. What we can do in rehab with this type of injury is everything apart from team training. You cannot replace that.
“Physically he could probably now run a marathon, but that’s not helpful because he needs to do other movements.”
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is closing in on a first-team return, with the 29-year-old yet to feature for Liverpool this season.
“He was on the bench [against West Ham],” Klopp said. I don’t think he was ready to play in the last game but he gets closer and he’s one or two weeks ahead of Naby, which is very helpful for us.”
