23 February 2024 , 10:14
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Liverpool assistant manager Pep Lijnders has revealed that Mohamed Salah, Darwin Nunez and Dominik Szoboszlai are all facing late fitness tests ahead of this Sunday's Carabao Cup final against Chelsea.
Jurgen Klopp's side has been ravaged by injuries in recent weeks, with all three players missing Wednesday's vital 4-1 win at home to Luton in the Premier League. Stars such as Alisson Becker, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Curtis Jones are also sidelined and won't play on Sunday, Lijnders has confirmed.
Speaking at Liverpool's pre-match press conference, the Dutch coach said: "Dom, Darwin and Mo, we will see. We have two more sessions, two days. We will check if they can be there."
Salah returned from a month-long injury layoff during last Saturday's clash with Brentford, scoring one goal and registering one assist after coming on as a first-half substitute. But the Egyptian, 31, suffered a fresh setback which saw him miss the visit of Luton in midweek.
Striker Nunez, meanwhile, was brought off at half-time against Brentford, with the Uruguay international having netted Liverpool's opening goal in another 4-1 win to keep them top of the Premier League table. As for Szoboszlai, the Hungarian midfielder has been ruled out with illness since January 31.
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Klopp last provided an update on the Reds' injury crisis after Wednesday's emphatic win at Anfield, saying: "We have to see, but I said it before the game - as long as we have 11 players, we will go for it.
"Will we be big favourites? Definitely not. Since we played them [Chelsea], they have improved a lot and it will be tricky, this was exceptional tonight."
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Dominik Szoboszlai and Darwin Nunez are also racing against clock (Getty Images)Liverpool were forced call on a number of young players against Luton, and the likes of Jayden Danns, James McConnell and Bobby Clark could even feature at Wembley. "I'm so happy that all the kids came on and played," Klopp continued.
"Dannsy said 50 times, 'Thank you, boss!' I'm so happy that I could give him that opportunity, the boys deserve it. But obviously for us there are now a lot of super-important games coming up, and we don't know, we go day by day.
"I cannot say anything about it and I don't know. But after Brentford I had no clue the situation would be like it was now. So, let's see. There's one phrase that stands: as long as we have 11, we will go for it. That's all I can promise."