INJURY UPDATE AHEAD OF LIVERPOOL V UNITED
Jose Mourinho has confirmed Manchester United captain Michael Carrick is unavailable for Saturday’s Premier League match at Liverpool, but top scorer Romelu Lukaku is fit.
Carrick missed the two previous Reds outings against CSKA Moscow and Crystal Palace with an injury, that continues to keep him on the sidelines. Fellow central midfielders Paul Pogba and Marouane Fellaini also look set to be out with hamstring and knee problems respectively.
However, Mourinho is always keen to concentrate on the players available to him and that crucially includes Lukaku. The striker had missed Belgium’s World Cup qualifier against Bosnia last weekend, but he thankfully returned to score as a substitute against Cyprus on Tuesday night.
Speaking at his press conference at the Aon Training Complex, Jose gave this injury update to reporters: “Michael Carrick? I know he cannot play, I know that. Lukaku looks fine and that's it.”
The manager did not mention the fitness of Fellaini, who suffered an injury while playing for Belgium last Saturday. The Belgian FA later claimed the in-form midfielder had suffered knee-ligament damage.
Marcos Rojo and Zlatan Ibrahimovic are, of course, still unavailable as they continue to recover from the serious injuries that they both sustained in the second half of last season’s UEFA Europa League quarter-final tie against Anderlecht at Old Trafford.
HOW ARE LIVERPOOL?
The Merseysiders suffered a huge blow during the international break when star player Sadio Mane suffered an injury that is set to keep him out of action for six weeks.
There have also been question marks over the availability of playmaker Philippe Coutinho and Roberto Firmino, who both represented Brazil in midweek. However, German boss Klopp is confident both players will play against United after completing the long journey home.
“We worked closely together with other clubs to bring the South American players home," Klopp said at his own press conference. "Phil [Coutinho] played two games, Roberto [Firmino] played five minutes. They had a long flight but it was pretty comfortable. I saw the price! They should be okay.”
"Thank God we can still play football without Sadio. Lots of teams got injuries from this international break. It’s not only Sadio, it’s Fellaini and a lot of other players. It’s Sadio but nobody else, which is the good news. We can play without him."
"Thank God we can still play football without Sadio. Lots of teams got injuries from this international break. It’s not only Sadio, it’s Fellaini and a lot of other players. It’s Sadio but nobody else, which is the good news. We can play without him."
