Liverpool goes into this weekend with the opportunity to win its first piece of silverware of the season, as the Reds face Chelsea in the Carabao Cup final at Wembley on Sunday. Jürgen Klopp will be hoping to finish his Liverpool career in style and winning as many trophies as possible in the next three months. Here’s your round-up of the latest Liverpool news.
Liverpool injury news before Chelsea
Jürgen Klopp is sweating on the fitness of Mohamed Salah and Darwin Núñez ahead of the Carabao Cup final. Both players were spotted at the training ground on Friday, but it’s uncertain whether the pair will be fit enough to start the showpiece event. Núñez was forced to come off in the win against Brentford a week ago and is in a race against time to be declared fit to make the final.
Salah, meanwhile, played 45 minutes against Brentford but subsequently missed the game against Luton in midweek. Klopp will definitely be without Alisson Becker, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Curtis Jones and Diogo Jota, with the latter two also suffering injuries against Brentford. But it is possible that Núñez and Salah could make the bench against Chelsea. Dominik Szoboszlai, who hasn’t played in a month, is also being assessed ahead of the final and cannot be ruled out just yet.
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Liverpool assistant coach Pep Lijnders gave an update on both Núñez and Salah’s current status regarding making the final, saying: “Two training sessions to go. Let’s see how they are and then we can make a decision in the last minute.”
Xabi Alonso ‘could reject Liverpool job’
Current Bayer Leverkusen coach and Liverpool hero Xabi Alonso could reject the chance to manage one of the clubs he served diligently as a player. Alonso’s Leverkusen sits atop the Bundesliga and could end Bayern Munich’s domination of Germany, and this has drawn the attention of Liverpool.
With Jürgen Klopp set to step down at the end of the season, it seems the time is perfect for Alonso to replace the German. Yet according to TeamTalk, Alonso may spurn the chance.
That’s because for Alonso it might be a case of ’right club, wrong time’, with the Spaniard aware of how difficult the task will be of trying to replace Klopp. Moreover, Alonso is also aware of his inexperience as a coach, and he isn’t opposed to staying with Leverkusen for another season to build on the success of this one.
Liverpool may then pivot and go with their number two option, Sporting Lisbon coach Ruben Amorim, the report states. However, there is a long way to go in the search for the person to succeed Klopp and plenty more big claims are likely to emerge.
Olivia Martin is a dedicated sports journalist based in the UK. With a passion for various athletic disciplines, she covers everything from major league championships to local sports events, delivering up-to-the-minute updates and in-depth analysis.
