Reds assistant coach Pepijn Lijnders revealed the midfielder and a number of other players will miss their trip to Carrow Road in the EFL Cup
Liverpool have confirmed Thiago Alcantara will play no part in their next two fixtures against Norwich and Brentford while offering an update on Trent Alexander-Arnold as he continues to recover from illness.
Thiago made his fourth top-flight appearance of the season as Liverpool beat Crystal Palace 3-0 at Anfield on Sunday, but had to come off on the hour mark after picking up a knock.
Reds assistant coach Pep Lijnders has now revealed the Spaniard will miss their trip to Norwich in the third round of the EFL Cup on Tuesday, as well as the Premier League meeting with Brentford four days later.
What’s been said?
“Thiago, how the gaffer said after the game, it was a calf injury. I can’t say now how long it will take but definitely not tomorrow and not at the weekend,” Lijnders told Liverpool’s official website.
“Let’s get the scan results back and we have a proper diagnosis. A shame as well because he was taking the game by the hand, he was a proper playmaker in my opinion. A shame that we miss him.”
What about Alexander-Arnold?
Jurgen Klopp’s assistant went on to discuss the availability of Alexander-Arnold, who sat out the Reds’ win against Palace after falling ill shortly before kick-off.
Lijnders ruled out the possibility of the full-back returning against Norwich, but is confident that he will be back in time for the trip to Brentford.
“Our game basically started at 12 o’clock against Palace; he took responsibility to speak with the doctor,” he said. “It was not easy because these guys – it says a lot about our group anyway – they want to play everything, [even] if they feel a bit shaky or ill, but he took the responsibility.
“There are no Covid symptoms. We test regardless. He should be fine in a few days but Norwich comes too early.”
Additional team news
Liverpool will also be without Roberto Firmino when they face Norwich, but the club have stated that the Brazilian is “set to resume team training this week” after missing their last three games due to a hamstring issue.
Neco Williams is still on the comeback trail after an injury too, with Lijnders adding on the pair: “Bobby will do parts of team training but also not ready. He is progressing well. Neco is progressing well as well. [For him] tomorrow also comes too early.”