The attention of Liverpool is turning to the FA Cup as celebrations from Sunday’s Carabao Cup win begin to calm down.
The Reds beat Chelsea 1-0 at Wembley to lift their seventh major trophy under Jurgen Klopp. But the win came at a cost, with midfielder Ryan Gravenberch going down with injury and Klopp forced to deploy several academy stars.
The full extent of Gravenberch’s injury has now been revealed, dealing yet another blow to the Reds. That news comes despite Gary Neville insisting Klopp’s men are still among the favourites to win the Premier League title.
And as Klopp prepares to depart at the end of the season, frontrunner Xabi Alonso has received a ringing endorsement from superstar boss Pep Guardiola.
Klopp confirmed Ryan Gravenberch will miss the FA Cup clash against Southampton through injury. Gravenberch has damaged the ligaments in his ankle after a tackle from Moises Caicedo, with Klopp ruing the latest blow.
“What I do know is Ryan is not available, besides all the others. It’s a ligament injury, it could have been much worse, but it’s bad enough for him to be ruled out for this game, next game, then we will see,” Klopp said.
“We need miracles with a few players and it’s touch and go with a lot of players, who were not available for the final. It’s a very bad moment because of so many injuries, but what we can do so far is just ignore who we are missing.”
Meanwhile, Manchester United legend Gary Neville has tipped Liverpool to win the Premier League title despite their mounting injury list.
Neville believes that the Reds have a key advantage over rivals Arsenal and Manchester City thanks to Klopp.
“Yeah if they didn’t have Klopp as a manager, I would say that might be as good as it gets. But with it being his last few months, and the energy and the spirit, you just know what’s going to happen there,” he told The Gary Neville Podcast.
“I still don’t think they’ll win the league. But they could. I think Arsenal, when I watch them, are a better team than Liverpool but I think Liverpool are a more ruthless team. They’ve got so much threat, Liverpool. And I think that, in the end, will just be a problem.”
Pep Guardiola has given high praise of Xabi Alonso, with the Spaniard the frontrunner to replace Jurgen Klopp.
While Guardiola stopped short of calling for Liverpool to appoint him, he insisted the Bayer Leverkusen boss was at the top of his game.
“If you ask me about the job that he is doing, honestly? Wow! It’s the only team in modern football that’s unbeaten in all competitions and fighting in that way with Bayern Munich there,” Guardiola said.
“Now they have the most important part of the season for them. But wow, not just the way they play, they didn’t lose one game in Europa League, in [DFB] Pokal in Germany, and Bundesliga, and the way they’re playing.”
