Liverpool remain second in the Premier League table following Thursday’s 3-1 win over Newcastle. But the result played secondary to the fact that hours before the kick-off, three Liverpool first-team players tested positive for COVID.
Now the squad will hold their breath and hope the positives are isolated to those three individuals. As of now, Sunday’s game with Tottenham Hotspur is on, and Liverpool aim to win their seventh-straight league match.
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Injury News
There were no new injury concerns coming out of Thursday’s fixture with Newcastle. The Reds are expected to be without Virgil van Dijk, Fabinho and Curtis Jones, who all tested positive prior to the game.
All three are experiencing no symptoms, and await a PCR test to confirm the diagnoses.
As of Friday afternoon, no other Liverpool player has tested positive, but it is an ongoing situation.
As for other injuries, Divock Origi (knee), Nat Phillips (broken cheekbone) and Harvey Elliott (ankle) remain out.
Klopp seeks clarity from PL
As expected, a main topic during Jurgen Klopp’s press conference Friday dealt with COVID issues. One thing brought up is the lack of clarity from the Premier League over COVID issues. Klopp said more transparency is required when COVID outbreaks force match postponements.
“I think at one point we have to make clear what exactly the rules are, but of course with three players out of the squad we wouldn’t have asked to not play a football game,” Klopp said, alluding to his own team’s issues.
Sunday’s opponent Tottenham have had four fixtures postponed due to positive cases.
Klopp was critical of the way some clubs “strange, misleading” secrecy on COVID cases. Liverpool and Chelsea have been open to revealing what players are not available due to positive cases. Others, such as Tottenham and Manchester United, have not been.
“Our most important concern is that the boys are healthy,” Klopp said.
“If someone has the flu, and you ask me, I’ll say he has the flu. If he has a broken toe, I’ll say he has a broken toe.
“It’s difficult because one is a pandemic and the other is an individual injury, but we still have to find a way to get through all this.
“I really think the exchange of information is pretty helpful because all the misleading, wrong information misleads a lot of people. Just say how it is and move on from there.”