15 September 2023 , 11:23
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Jurgen Klopp has ruled Trent Alexander-Arnold out of Liverpool's clash with Wolves - but will make late fitness calls on his other under-the-weather stars.
Key players Alexander-Arnold, Thiago Alcantara, and Darwin Nunez all missed Liverpool's Thursday morning training session through injury.
Klopp said in his Friday press conference: "He's [Alexander-Arnold] not available. We knew that before. It's not the worst hamstring injury but it'll barely heal in two weeks and this one didn't. We hope he can start ball work early next week, we'll go from there." He added: "Thiago is back running. Ibou has trained for two days with the team. I've not seen Darwin yet, we will see. Quansah has trained the full week with us."
On his players who travelled to South America for international duty, he said: "We would've loved to have carried on after Villa. Mac Allister played in Bolivia 30 hours ago, so let's see where we can pick up. Not seen the players yet but we can make decisions about tomorrow. The potential they have is really good. I love working with them."
Klopp has a major headache ahead of this weekend's early fixture against Wolves, with captain Virgil van Dijk also missing the clash due to a suspension.
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Van Dijk was shown a red card against Newcastle, which would usually warrant a one-match ban, but his aggressive reaction to the decision made by referee John Brooks saw the suspension upgraded to include the Wolves clash.
Alexander-Arnold picked up a hamstring injury against Aston Villa and was forced to pull out of the England squad as a result.
Klopp played down Alexander-Arnold's injury following the Aston Villa victory but the right-back missed international duty with England and was subsequently absent from Liverpool training.
Thiago, meanwhile, is still recovering after undergoing surgery for a hip injury. He returned to team training last month, but his latest absence suggests he has suffered a setback.
Konate didn't feature in either of Liverpool's two games before the international break with a thigh injury. He also missed a France call-up as a result but has returned to training.
Uruguay boss Marcelo Bielsa revealed Nunez was suffering from muscle discomfort on international duty, which saw the striker being substituted.
Klopp expressed concern before the international break over his South American stars facing long journeys in addition to their match workload.
He said: "The boys fly now all over the world now, which is horrible. Pretty much 48 hours after our South Americans play somewhere on the other end of the world, we will play against Wolverhampton Wanderers. That will be a tough one so we have to make sure that we are ready and we will give it a go."