Liverpool will travel to face Southampton at St Mary’s in their day two fixture of the English Premier League season without their 24 year old Guinean midfielder Naby Keita.
The Guinean international is suffering from a hip muscle strain he sustained before their UEFA Super Cup win against Chelsea.
Keita was an unused substitute against Norwich City in their opening fixture of the campaign.
Liverpool’s Manager Jurgen Klopp has said there is no fixed timescale for his return to action.
“[He’s] not available. It’s a muscle thing, Klopp told reporters in his pre-match news conference.
“We don’t know exactly how long it will take, but he is not available.”
Liverpool are also sweating over the fitness of their newly recruited Spanish goalkeeper Adrián, with their first choice goalkeeper Alisson Becker already sidelined with a calf injury.
He got injured in their celebrations after their UEFA Super Cup win against Chelsea. A fan is reported to have slipped and collided with him on the pitch on Wednesday during the celebration, leaving him with a swollen ankle.
Liverpool’s Manager has also complained about playing three games in eight days.
“My plan when I heard about the fixture was to win on Wednesday, win on Saturday, then speak about it after that,” Klopp said.
“If you speak about earlier it looks like you are looking for excuses. I don’t, we don’t [want to make excuses].
“Was it right that we played on Friday and Chelsea on Sunday? No. That’s the situation, we cannot change these things.
“We have no power, we can only accept it. Now we don’t think about it, we don’t think about Wednesday night, we think about Saturday.
“That’s what we have to do- find a way to win the game. That’s the reason why we go there and that’s possible, so that’s what we will try.”
The rest of the African continent in the Liverpool team are ready for Saturday’s game.
Senegal forward Sadio Mane scored a brace for them in their UEFA Super Cup win against Chelsea to become only the second African to do so after Mali’s Frederic Kanoute. He will be expected to start on Saturday though he was on the bench from the start against Norwich City.
Cameroon defender Joel Matip was an unused substitute against Norwich though he played their entire UEFA Super Cup game on Wednesday.
Muambo Edward
