Trent Alexander-Arnold will miss the first leg of Liverpool’s Carabao Cup semi-final against Fulham and is expected to be out for three weeks with a knee injury.
England international Alexander-Arnold, 25, picked up the knock in the 2-0 FA Cup victory over Arsenal on Sunday.
Liverpool host Marco Silva’s side at Anfield on Wednesday night ahead of the Premier League match against Bournemouth and the second leg of the semi-finals later this month.
Advertising
They also face Norwich City or Bristol Rovers in the FA Cup fourth round with the home game with Chelsea on January 31 now the likeliest target for a return.
Assistant manager Pep Lijnders said: “Trent hyperextended his knee in the game and there’s a little tear. He will be out for around three weeks. A big blow as he’s one of our most important players.”
He added on the club’s website: “He will get some rest and be able to get back to where he was. Because this guy was decisive in every game and he was the one who constantly created for us in intensity and gave the team a maximum point of flexibility. In fact, he will be missed.
Young Conor Bradley has the best chance of updating Jurgen Klopp’s squad, with Alexander-Arnold joining fellow defenders Joel Matip, Andrew Robertson and Kostas Tsimikas absent.
GO FURTHER
Conor Bradley’s Arsenal cameo: The 15 minutes that proved his long Liverpool career
Mohamed Salah and Wataru Endo are also away on international duty at the Africa Cup of Nations and Asian Cup, respectively.
There is better news in the form of a return for Virgil Van Dijk, however, while Dominik Szoboszlai is back running after a hamstring injury.
“Virgil is back,” Lijnders added. He made some runs in the field, still looking exhausted. He’ll be back in the team, he’s recovered well, so it actually helped him avoid going to London.
“Dom is progressing well on the pitch, he’s running, so we’ll see. We won’t have it for tomorrow. “
“And then we have Robbo, he’s almost 3 months old, so he’s going to be checked out by the surgeon.
“And if he does that scan and we see everything (so we can) actually he, he’ll go to Dubai for a week to do the right volume sessions, the right sessions, so it’ll be smart for him. Then we’ll look at the three-month analysis, and then we’ll be able to see how you can temporarily get back in touch.
“Same for Kostas. Kostas is progressing really well, really quick. So hopefully both of them — Robbo and Kostas — will be back at the end of this month to train with the team.”
GO FURTHER
Konate and Quansah stand firm as exhausted Liverpool seek glory on four fronts
(Julian Finney/Getty Images)
Get all-access to exclusive stories.
Subscribe to The Athletic for detailed policies for your favorite players, teams, leagues and clubs. Try us for a week.