Jurgen Klopp’s team selection for the match with Nottingham Forest came with two surprising omissions, as Thiago Alcantara and Darwin Nunez did not make the starting line-up or the squad for the match.
Our manager told BT Sport (via Liverpool’s Match Centre) before the Premier League game at the City Ground: “No (it’s not precautionary), I wish I could do that.
“For Darwin the game comes too early, he still feels the intensity of the game muscle-wise so there was no chance he could play today. Maybe he could play tomorrow or on Monday but not today.
READ MORE: Nottingham Forest set to host Liverpool with up to four players missing
“And Thiago got a bad ear infection overnight. The decision was made this morning at 5.15. That’s how it is sometimes and that’s the reason for that.”
It’s certainly not ideal for a team selection to be changed at 5am on the day of a game and for the player to be missing to be as influential as our No.6 is, let’s hope it’s not too disruptive for the players involved.
The Spaniard has been in fine form but so has our No.27, showing against West Ham that he is playing with a lot of confidence at the moment and so it’s a big miss for him now too.
We’re left with two fit strikers in Mo Salah and Bobby Firmino and all of our supporters will be praying that the pair can get through the 90 minutes without picking up any injuries themselves.
It feels like the fitness problems are again piling up and, despite the two players missing not being too serious, it seems as though the World Cup can’t come soon enough at the moment.