Defender Dejan Lovren doesn't travel after picking up a hamstring injury in midweek
Monday 16 December 2019 09:03, UK
Liverpool's Georginio Wijnaldum could be unavailable for the Club World Cup having picked up an injury on Saturday, but will travel with the squad to Qatar.
Wijnaldum appeared to sustain a hamstring injury in the 2-0 win over Watford which, after Leicester's draw, saw the Reds' lead at the top extended to 10 points.
On Sunday Liverpool flew to Doha for Wednesday's first match of the tournament and Klopp will be without another senior player having lost defender Dejan Lovren, who isn't included in the 20-man squad.
The current league leaders are set to take on Monterrey in the semi-final on Wednesday and, should they progress to the final, they are likely to face the CONMEBOL winners Flamengo.
The FIFA Medical Committee has approved two Liverpool replacements due to the injuries to Lovren and also Rhian Brewster, with youngsters Ki-Jana Hoever and Sepp van den Berg coming into the squad.
Both Hoever and Van den Berg players are due to be involved in Tuesday's Carabao Cup tie against Aston Villa, live on Sky Sports, before travelling to Qatar ahead of Saturday's game
Resources are already stretched thinly ahead of that game, with a youth team set to play in their cup quarter-final at Villa Park.
And with Fabinho and Joel Matip ruled out of games in the Middle East, Klopp will not want to have to deal with another absentee.
"With the Gini injury, Dejan three or four days ago, our squad is not getting bigger. That is not cool," he said.
"But that is the same problem if we go to Aston Villa in the Carabao Cup quarter-final."
Klopp added: "It is a muscle thing and you never want that for a player. In these moments it immediately makes it more difficult."
Qatar has seen some heavy rain and thunderstorms over the last few days and Klopp has expressed his concerns over the pitch if the bad weather persists.
The German also took a dig at tournament organisers for the fact all games will be played on the same pitch in Doha for the tournament.
"I think it is raining there, which doesn't help the one pitch we are all on. It is sensationally well organised! Where all the games are on one pitch and it is raining there, I'm not sure if people in Qatar are really used to a lot of rain," he said.
"We will see how the pitch will be. That's a bit of a problem."
Alisson, Virgil Van Dijk, Gini Wijnaldum, James Milner, Naby Keita, Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mane, Mohamed Salah, Joe Gomez, Adrian, Jordan Henderson, Ki-Jana Hoever, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Adam Lallana, Andy Lonergan, Xherdan Shaqiri, Andrew Robertson, Divock Origi, Curtis Jones, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Sepp van den Berg, Neco Williams
