At this point it’s tragedy, or comedy. Or tragicomedy, or maybe comedically tragic for Liverpool FC and their roster of players who were on international duty this week and last. On Tuesday, £53 million midfielder Naby Keita became the fourth Liverpool player to encounter fitness issues on this international break, and leave his respective national team early.
Now the Reds will have four fitness concerns to sweat over on Saturday when they travel to the St. John’s Stadium to take on Huddersfield Town.
Keita was subbed off at half time after sustaining a muscular injury while playing for Guinea in their Africa Cup of Nations qualifier with Rwanda.
Early reports indicate that he suffered a small strain, but more details won’t be available until he undergoes tests administered by LFC medical staff. He becomes the fourth player to return to the team early this break, joining Mohamed Salah, Virgil Van Dijk and Sadio Mane.
Click on the player’s name where highlighted for the latest updates pertaining to their injury/fitness issues. With Keita, now Liverpool has seen an injury in every position group this international break. On the plus side, none of the injuries are thought to be severe or long term at this point.
Keita encountered another fitness issue earlier this month, when he suffered back spasms in Liverpool’s UEFA Champions League group stage loss at Napoli. Although he was hospitalized overnight, it was not a serious issue.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, is currently a regular contributor to SB Nation, WGN CLTV and Chicago Now.
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