Pep Lijnders issues quadruple Liverpool injury update ahead of EFL Cup clash v West Ham United
Liverpool assistant manager Pep Lijnders has issued a quadruple injury update ahead of the match with West Ham.
The Reds welcome the Hammers to Anfield for a League Cup quarter-final encounter on Wednesday (20 December).
And their assistant has now issued an update on the injuries concerning Ryan Gravenberch, Alexis Mac Allister, Diogo Jota and Ben Doak.
Discussing Mac Allister, Lijnders told the official Liverpool website (19 December): “Alexis is progressing well, he doesn’t have pain anymore, which is a good thing. It was worse than we first thought, but he is progressing well, no pain.”
Regarding Jota, the assistant said: “Diogo is doing ball work on the pitch so that is getting closer and closer. But always with hamstring injuries you have to be careful, we always say when they come back give them another two or three days for sure.”
As per Gravenberch: “He had a scan and it’s only DOMS, which is fatigue, so that’s a really good thing. He will train hopefully today, let’s see where he is. We have to be careful of course because that’s a sign. So that’s a good one.”
And regarding Doak: “That’s not a good one. He tore his lateral meniscus, which needs surgery. That one will take a longer time.”
Tough test
Regardless of the injuries to Jurgen Klopp’s side, the Hammers will be fully aware that they are in for a very difficult match.
David Moyes’s men can, however, take great confidence from their displays lately, with the East London club winning their last two games.
More impressively, they have scored five goals from those two matches and have not conceded any, having beaten SC Freiburg 2-0 in the Europa League and Wolves 3-0 in the Premier League.
Given the very busy schedule, Moyes may be tempted to rest some key players, with very tricky matches against Manchester United and Arsenal still to come before the end of the year.
But at the same time the Hammers boss will want to continue this successful cup run and give the West Ham fans something to cheer about once more.
The travelling fans will undoubtedly be in full voice for the clash as they look to encourage their players to a famous win under the lights at Anfield.
In other West Ham news, Daniel Sturridge and Roy Keane were in agreement over an incident in the match against Wolves, with a “WWE” verdict shared.