Leicester City vs. Liverpool: Evaluating the Players Available

In his press conference Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp ruled out Fabinho from taking part in the weekend.

“Fab will not be available. He suffered again a little muscle issue, so will be out for this game.”

The boss dampened hopes further adding that it’s unclear whether the defensive midfielder-turned-center-back will be available for the Champions League tie next week.

New signings Ben Davies and Ozan Kabak are in contention with Rhys Williams and Nat Phillips to feature in Fabinho’s place against Leicester on Saturday, as Klopp noted that all players featured well in the week’s defensive training.

“With the boys, obviously we had now some sessions together where we really could work on this defensive set-up and that’s very, very important. But we have, as well and on top of that, other players available - Nat Phillips did really well, together with Hendo [and] together with Fab.

“We have to find a solution and all of them had the chance this week to show in training who is ready. So, I have to make a decision tomorrow, obviously.”

While Klopp has tended to avoid throwing in new signings before they’ve had a chance to settle in with the squad, these are unusual circumstances, and surely whoever has shown himself to be most promising in training will get the nod to start against Jamie Vardy’s Leicester.

Diogo Jota and Naby Keïta, both returning from injury, are not quite ready to return to full team play — though Keïta is the closer of the two.

“Diogo [will be] two or three weeks, maybe. Probably the medical department hits me now, but I think that’s kind of possible, back in full training and then we will see how long it takes.”

Leicester City of course have their own injury challenges, with James Justin ruled out most recently. The Foxes are also missing Timothy Castagne, Dennis Praet and Wesley Fofana, all who have sustained thigh injuries.