Liverpool are set to be without Thiago Alcantara for a number of weeks after a Sunday scan revealed a hamstring strain.
The midfielder pulled up just five minutes into the second-half of Saturday's 2-2 draw with Fulham and was replaced by Harvey Elliott at Craven Cottage.
Scans have now revealed a strain for Thiago who is certain to be sidelined for the rest of the month as a result, with reports on Monday night suggesting a six-week lay-off for the former Bayern Munich playmaker.
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Liverpool have refused to place a timescale on the 31-year-old's recovery, however, and believe a second scan later this week may prove more helpful to determining a length of absence from Jurgen Klopp's first team.
Club sources don't deem the setback to be a "serious" one but a spell on the treatment table for such a gifted midfielder is a major concern for Klopp as he looks ahead to a busy few weeks that includes games with Manchester United, Newcastle and Everton.
Thiago will now enter a period of rehabilitation at the AXA Centre in an attempt to speed up the recovery process but the news will come as a huge blow at a time when Liverpool are also unable to call upon Curtis Jones and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain due to their respective injuries.
Naby Keita will return to training this week following a recent illness but the hamstring issue for Thiago has come at an inopportune time after their opening-weekend stumble at Fulham on Saturday lunchtime.
Thiago has struggled with fitness issues since his move to Anfield in September 2020. In his first term at Anfield he featured in 24 Premier League games, while last season the ex-Barcelona man played in 39 of the Reds 63 fixtures across all competitions.
Thiago was injured in the warm-up on the League Cup final at the end of February and needed a pain-killing injection to ensure he was able to be fielded in the Champions League final on May 28.
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