Jurgen Klopp dealt Liverpool injury blow ahead of Arsenal Premier League title clash

Due to a selection dilemma, Jurgen Klopp may have to play Arsenal without one of their best midfield players this weekend when they play for the Premier League title.

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp with Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta (Photo by Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)

This weekend, Liverpool will host Arsenal at Anfield in what looks to be an exciting matchup. The Gunners are presently leading the Premier League, but Mikel Arteta’s team is only one point behind Jurgen Klopp’s team in second place.

Whoever prevails in Saturday’s match between the two teams will probably be the best at Christmas. One of the Reds’ best midfield players might not be available, though.

On December 6, during Liverpool’s 2-0 victory over Sheffield United, Alexis Mac Allister took a knock and was substituted in the second half. The Argentina international missed the last three games, the most recent of which ended in a 0-0 draw with Manchester United.

The 24-year-old is a major doubt for Saturday’s game against Arsenal, contrary to Klopp’s initial hopes that he wouldn’t be sidelined for too long. Journalist Lorenzo Lepore reports that Mac Allister is not expected to be ready to play this weekend.

Although Mac Allister’s health has reportedly improved recently, the midfield player will be too young for the Arsenal match. The World Cup winner is reportedly expected to miss the remainder of 2023, with a potential return date of January 1 against Newcastle United.

The Liverpool Echo reported that last week, Klopp discussed Mac Allister’s injury. “I am obviously not a doctor, but they have explained to me every single day why he is not ready yet and it’s a bit more tricky than we thought in the first moment,” the German stated prior to the Man United match.

The other boy then trod on his knee and the stud—the piece beneath the boot—going through the muscle almost all the way to the bone. Therefore, we must now wait for the bone to mend and for Macca to be able to handle the pain.

“It hurts a little bit, and Macca is a really strong guy, but the most important thing is to make sure there is no infection and nothing bad happens. Hence, it was a truly…This is the first injury one of my players has ever sustained.

“But now we have it and I hope it will not take that long to heal but I would like to say to it is day by day and it looks like he could be ready for the next game but they say he will not be ready for that as well, so I hope the next three or four days he makes big steps and we will see.”

Naturally, Arsenal had their own injury concerns before the match. Currently out with injuries are Mohamed Elneny, Jurrien Timber, Thomas Partey, Fabio Vieira, Takehiro Tomiyasu, and Jorginho.