Jurgen Klopp has conceded that he still does not know if Mamadou Sakho will be available for selection for Liverpool’s Premier League meeting with Manchester City tonight.
The French international was substituted in the first half of the Reds’ penalty shootout loss to the Citizens in the League Cup final at the weekend, following his clashing of heads with team-mate Emre Can.
But Klopp insisted that he is yet to know the extent of Sakho’s injury as he is waiting for a full assessment by Liverpool’s medical staff.
“With Mama, I don’t know exactly”, he said at a press conference yesterday.
“We had to make a decision in the moment on the sidelines.
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“I think it was the right decision but until now I have heard nothing about the real issue, so I have to wait for the final judgement of the Doc.”
Klopp also stated that Lucas Leiva is unlikely to feature against Manchester City at Anfield after the Brazilian picked up a muscle injury while striking his penalty at Wembley.
“We have to wait for a few things, but it doesn’t look too good with Lucas – he will not be available”, he added.
“He had problems with a muscle when he shot the penalty, so I think he is not available. We have to wait, but I don’t think so.”
Klopp went on to add that he may have to make further changes to the squad, with his charges still recovering from the two-hour clash in the League Cup final.
“We don’t want to go and risk tomorrow [Wednesday], but who is available is available and then we have to make the choice”, the German continued.
“You have to wait a few more hours, I have to wait a few more hours and then we will know more – and then you will see the line-up tomorrow [Wednesday].”
“I know it’s a very important game for them and it’s a very important game for us, so it’s not that the game is not too important, it’s about thinking ‘Can I bring in another [player] that is 100 per cent fit?’
“That’s the same as what we are doing. We don’t make changes to say, ‘Come on, it’s Man City, you can lose’ or that it’s more important how we play against Crystal Palace or something. We cannot do this and we won’t do this.
“It is all about who is fit enough to go into this really intensive game for both sides. We will pick the best line-up we can.”
Liverpool, who are currently nine points adrift of top four, defeated Manchester City 4-1 in the corresponding fixture at the Etihad Stadium in November.
