Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp admits there is "no chance" Diogo Jota or Roberto Firmino can feature against Leeds United on Wednesday - and the duo are facing an uphill battle to be fit for Sunday's Carabao Cup final.
Jota, 25, was taken off midway through last week's clash with Inter Milan in the Champions League due to an ankle injury.
Firmino, 30, came on as his replacement and scored the opening goal in the Reds' 2-0 win at San Siro.
However, the Brazilian suffered a muscle injury ahead of Saturday's encounter with Norwich City and played no part in the 3-1 Premier League victory.
Neither Jota nor Firmino have returned to training in time for the midweek clash with Leeds and Klopp lamented that is "not a good sign" ahead of Sunday's Wembley showdown with Chelsea.
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"No chance for tomorrow," the Liverpool boss told reporters on Tuesday when quizzed on the pair's availability.
"Sunday we will see. It will be easier for me to say no now but they are pushing. Not on the pitch for training which is not a good sign. We'll make a decision in the week."
Should Jota and Firmino fail in their efforts to be fit for the weekend, Liverpool will be forced to take on Chelsea without their two primary options at centre-forward.
The Portuguese is the Reds' second-top scorer this season with 17 goals while the latter has eight to his name.
Klopp opted to deploy Sadio Mane at the centre of a fluid front three against Norwich, with Mohamed Salah to the right and £50million January signing Luis Diaz to the left.
Although the hosts fell behind early in the second half at Anfield, each of their forward trio scored during a blistering final half-hour to ensure there was no upset.
This front three may well be Klopp's preference in Jota and Firmino's absence, although Divock Origi, Takumi Minamino and Harvey Elliott provide him with alternative options in attack.
The German was also quizzed on how far in advance he looks when selecting his team for each match and insisted he can only focus on the immediate task.
"I didn't think about Sunday's team [to face Chelsea]," Klopp said of his selection to face Leeds. "One thing I've learned is it doesn't work for me to have two or three games in my mind.
"We try everything for this game. We didn't make Norwich changes for Leeds or [for the] final, we needed to rest some. Exactly how we do it now."
