Jurgen Klopp has admitted Liverpool had hoped Darwin Nunez would be fit to start today’s game versus Manchester City but could not afford to take a chance on the forward.
Nunez was named in Uruguay’s 23-man squad for friendlies against Japan and South Korea, only to later be withdrawn due to a cut on his ankle.
The Reds’ summer signing from Benfica subsequently missed two days of first-team training this week and is only deemed fit enough for a place on the substitutes’ bench for this afternoon’s match at the Etihad Stadium.
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Explaining his decision to opt for Diogo Jota ahead of Nunez, Klopp told BT Sport: “Darwin had a little problem. He didn’t go to the internationals because he had a cut on his foot, which was pretty uncomfortable. We actually thought it would be fine after the week, but it wasn’t, so he couldn’t train for the first two days. He’s now back in training, and that’s why we start the way we start.”
Pep Guardiola’s side have faced injury issues of their own, with Erling Haaland missing out on the matchday squad and Phil Foden also unavailable for selection.
Described as touch-and-go to feature in today’s showdown by the City boss at yesterday’s pre-match press conference, the Norwegian has failed to recover in time from his groin issue.
Asked before kick-off if Liverpool had prepared in training for the absence of the Premier League’s leading goalscorer, Klopp said: “Yes but, in general, it’s not like this. The last moment is the one where Haaland really gets involved, but all the other moments are quite similar. I didn’t see the lineup before I came out, so who else is not in the team?
"Alvarez is in, so they have a striker with speed and balls in behind. The main thing against City is to cut off the passing options between the lines. That’s a massive challenge
“Now he [Haaland] is not in, there are little adaptations but we cannot really train [for that] - especially after international duty because we had exactly one session with all the boys together.”
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