Liverpool’s Szoboszlai to miss cup clashes due to hamstring injury

Liverpool manager, Jürgen Klopp, has confirmed that midfielder, Dominik Szoboszlai, will miss the club’s upcoming FA Cup match against Arsenal this Sunday, as well as the first leg of their League Cup semi-final clash with Fulham, due to a hamstring injury sustained during the Reds’ 4-2 English Premier League victory over Newcastle United last Monday.

The Hungary international was substituted in the 64th minute of the league win. Providing an update on Szoboszlai’s status, Klopp told reporters: “It is a muscle, hamstring injury. I don’t know, we have to see. Dom is very positive. He doesn’t have a lot of pain, but we have to wait a little bit.” The Liverpool boss confirmed “No chance obviously for Sunday, not for Wednesday, and then we will see after that. Hopefully he might be back, but we don’t know.”

In addition to being without Szoboszlai, Liverpool will also miss star attacker, Mohamed Salah, who links up with Egypt for the Africa Cup of Nations, along with combative midfielder, Wataru Endo, on international duty with Japan at the Asian Cup. Addressing Salah and Endo’s absences, Klopp admitted “I said if I wish them good luck it would be a lie. Hopefully they are out in the group stages but it’s not likely possible.”

With a quick turnaround between the Arsenal and Fulham fixtures, questions have surfaced regarding potential squad rotation. However, Klopp asserted that: “I am not sure Arsenal is a game to rotate. I am not sure we have the opportunity to do that. We can line up a good team and I am sure that is what we will do. We have a few days between games, so that is long enough and there is no need for rotation.”

Klopp added about the matches against the London clubs: “We want to win these games, we want to go to the League Cup final but also the next round of the FA Cup, but it’s probably the most tricky draw you can get.” Liverpool will aim to navigate this tough period without several key players.