Liverpool vs. Leicester City: Salah Misses Out on Crucial Clash
By Taylor Smith
November 22, Anfield, Liverpool, UK | Injury-plagued Liverpool facing a tough test in the English Premier League as Leicester City visit Anfield on Sunday.
One of the unfortunate storylines of this young season has been injuries—not only for Liverpool, who have arguably been the most unfortunate, but for all teams in the English Premier League. The fixture congestion and lack of a full preseason have really taken their toll, especially on those teams competing in Europe.
This match is particularly impacted by injuries. With Thiago, Fabinho, and Trent Alexander-Arnold all having sustained significant injuries prior to the international break, Jurgen Klopp would have been crossing all his fingers and toes that all his boys would come out unscathed. It wasn’t meant to be, though.
Joe Gomez went down in training while away with the England National team, and had to have surgery to repair a tendon issue in his knee. Jordan Henderson suffered yet another muscle strain, the hallmark of too many games without proper recovery time. The only bit of good news is that Andy Robertson, who was also dealing with a muscle issue while away with Scotland, has said he is fit enough to face the Foxes.
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Perhaps the most devastating news came in the form of Mohamed Salah’s positive test for COVID-19 making it extremely unlikely that he would test negative in time to return to England, prove his fitness in training, and start on Sunday.
League leaders before Spurs beat Manchester City to take the top spot, Leicester City, have their own injury woes, although they’ll be feeling much more fortunate than Liverpool at the moment.
Brendan Rogers, former Liverpool and current Leicester manager said;
"“Wilf [Ndidi] is out on the field. He still has a number of weeks to go, but he’s progressing well. Soyüncu, likewise, is maybe a few weeks away, but training with the squad” [via Goal.com]."
Fortunately for the Foxes, an in-form and firing Jamie Vardy is fit and will look to continue his excellent form against the Reds. Leicester City will be licking their lips knowing that Liverpool is currently a depleted version of the team that dominated the Premier League last season.
This may be their best chance yet to get one over on a title-rival and end the Red’s 63-game unbeaten run at home.