Ozan Kabak blow
Despite being ravaged at centre-back by injuries to all three senior options, Liverpool’s misery at the position is set to continue. New signing Ozan Kabak, who was signed to temporarily replace Virgil van Dijk, Joe Gomez and Joel Matip, all of whom are unlikely to play again this season, picked up a problem in Thursday’s 1-0 defeat to Chelsea and is a major doubt for the weekend clash against Fulham.
Jurgen Klopp said: “Ozan after the game had a little problem. He has played now a lot of games and we will see whether he is ready for Fulham. It doesn’t look like it at the moment. We will have to find solutions.”
Klopp sets Salah record straight
Klopp has set the record straight on Mohamed Salah’s substitution and future, stating that he pulled the Egyptian international off because he looked sluggish and not for any other reason.
Jurgen Klopp said: “I cannot not change a player just because it creates a story. Afterwards, I didn’t even think about these kind of things in the moment. You do it because you think in the moment it’s right. And you (the media) are allowed to judge afterwards if it was right but it does not change my decision any more.”
Speaking ahead of Sunday’s visit of Fulham,
Jurgen Klopp added: “In the situation when you make a decision like that he looked, for me, like he felt the intensity. He probably saw it completely differently and that is completely fine. It’s not the most important thing in the world, maybe 30 minutes without Mo Salah is why he could play again on Sunday. We make these decisions in the moment and not with any thoughts in behind. The problem only is you only have to explain it after the game and the day after the game – these kind of stories so far didn’t happen. I cannot guarantee for the future and for all times it will never happen but these kind of discussions we never had. I could have changed other players, that’s true, it was more who we bring on in this moment.”
