Ex-Reds Adam Lallana is in doubt for Brighton ahead of the visit of Liverpool in the fourth round of the FA Cup, having suffered a “minor” injury at the weekend.
Jurgen Klopp’s team returns to the Amex on Sunday, just 15 days after they learned a lesson from a 3-0 defeat that laid bare a host of problems this season.
The manager called this defeat the “worst game” he could remember, a real “low point” for the Reds, desperate for self-confidence.
Wolverhampton got the momentum to set up this fourth-round tie and Brighton could do without Lallana in the clash after picking up a muscle injury at Leicester on Saturday.
The Seagulls drew 2-2 at King Power, and 18-year-old Evan Ferguson scored late, depriving Brendan Rodgers’ team of all three points.
Lallana watched most of the action from the sidelines, having dropped out of the game at the half-hour mark due to a muscle injury that leaves him in a race to be ready for Sunday’s visit of Liverpool.
“I think it’s a muscle injury,” Brighton manager Roberto De Zerbi told reporters. “We usually play better with Lallana on the pitch.
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“But I think we probably played better in the second half. We were stronger in the last part of the field when we attacked.
“We were stronger, but Lallana is a very, very important player.”
Lallana himself said on Instagram that the injury is a “minor problem” and that he will “be back soon enough.”
With an extensive injury history, you wonder if it’s worth the risk against the Reds, even if he can prove his fitness in time.
Levi Colville and Jakub Moder remain sidelined by Brighton, while Liverpool are likely to welcome Darwin Nunez back into the XI after his 27-minute appearance on the bench against Chelsea.
