Jurgen Klopp has played down fears about the fitness of midfielder Fabinho after the Liverpool man was forced off injured in the first half of Tuesday’s 2-1 win over Aston Villa.
The Brazil international was not given a rest for the game, unlike Thiago or Mohamed Salah, but looked off the pace before pulling up with what appeared to be a hamstring injury inside half an hour.
He had to be replaced by Jordan Henderson and now Fabinho’s involvement in Saturday’s FA Cup final against Chelsea is obviously up in the air.
While further tests will need to be done to determine the severity of the injury, Klopp revealed after the game that the 28-year-old doesn’t think his issue is anything too serious.
“He felt a muscle, not too much,” Klopp said. “He’s quite positive but I’m not sure what I can make of that. We will see.
“You have to make the decisions before the game, nobody had any issues and you have to play somebody.”
The boss – who also confirmed that left-back Andy Robertson’s omission from the matchday squad was purely down to rest and not related to an injury – admitted losing Fabinho at such a crucial point of the season could be a ‘big blow’.
The Reds remain in the hunt for the Premier League title, likely needing maximum points from their remaining two games against Southampton and Wolves if they are to have any hope of toppling Manchester City at the top of the table.
On top of that, Liverpool also have the small matter of the Champions League final against Real Madrid on May 28 to look forward to, and Klopp will be sweating over Fabinho’s involvement in that until the tests come back.
