Jurgen Klopp insists Fabio Carvalho has done "nothing wrong" amid the youngster's omission from Liverpool's starting XI.
Carvalho, 20, has not featured in the Premier League since the World Cup and failed to make the bench for Liverpool's recent games against Chelsea and Everton. Klopp has admitted the youngster is unlikely to be "in a happy place" due to his lack of minutes.
Carvalho is one of the most exciting talents in the Premier League after helping Fulham win the Championship title last season - scoring 10 goals in England's second tier. He joined Liverpool last summer and featured often before the tournament in Qatar.
Klopp played down any fears of an injury or fallout during his pre-match press conference on Friday. The Reds take on Newcastle in St James' Park on Saturday - which is arguably their biggest game of the season to date considering their respective positions.
Liverpool are ninth in the Premier League table - nine points behind Newcastle in fourth with a game in hand. Klopp's side will be confident of chasing down Eddie Howe's high flyers, but only if they can pull off a win at St James' Park. That will be tricky.
Remarkably, Liverpool are the only team to beat Newcastle in the Premier League this season. That result came at Anfield in August, when a 98th-minute winner from Carvalho snatched the points for the hosts. It is unclear whether he will be involved this time out.
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"Fabio is a very young player, big talent, absolutely," said Klopp. "He played well for us in a couple of games. Now it’s the situation where we have to make the squad and he couldn’t make it for the last one. That’s how it is, that’s the truth.
"He didn’t play too often because, from my point of view, we needed different skills when we started or when we changed during the games.
"That’s pretty much all, he did nothing wrong. He improved a lot, he developed a lot, he’s a good kid in the middle of the group, in the middle of the squad."
Carvalho, who has represented England and Portugal at youth level, arrived on Merseyside with a big reputation. He was named in the PFA Team of the Year for the Championship last season and was crowned the EFL Young Player of the Month in August 2021. The forward has scored three goals for Liverpool since his move - winning the Community Shield.
Klopp added: "So that’s all fine, but [he is] obviously not in a happy place. In the moment you cannot see that on the pitch or when I see him, it’s not really obvious, but I can imagine. He’s a footballer, he wants to play and he didn’t play often enough.
"That doesn’t help a lot, but that’s another thing in a long career that you have to go through. For me, it looks in the moment that he takes it as good as somehow possible."
