Jurgen Klopp hopes that Darwin Nunez will be able to make the starting line-up when Liverpool host Chelsea in the Premier League, having missed the last two games.
Nunez has been out of the game since this time last week due to a minor hamstring injury that caused Cody Gakpo to come forward in his absence.
The Dutchman struggled to adjust to a different role, a natural left winger, while Klopp had to shuffle his secondary players into flanking positions along with Mohamed Salah.
Fortunately, Harvey Elliott joined the winner of the match against Wolves on Tuesday night, securing a trip to Brighton in the fourth round of the FA Cup.
Speaking after the 1-0 win over Molineux, Klopp expressed “hope” that Nunes will be available when Chelsea arrive at Anfield at lunchtime on Saturday.
“I hope Darwin will return to training tomorrow or Thursday, so of course then he can compete,” he explained.
However, before the replay of the third round, the manager admitted that “not all the players who played the last game are now available for various reasons.”
It is likely that in the previous 3-0 defeat to Brighton, blows were struck, and this may have indicated that Trent Alexander-Arnold and Jordan Henderson were not in the squad in the middle of the week.
Roberto Firmino and Virgil van Dijk remain on the sidelines along with Luis Diaz, Diogo Hota and Arthur, and Calvin Ramsay was not in the squad after the League Cup defeat by Man City on December 22.
So Klopp may still have a long injury list, as he also said that “Kostya [Tsimikas] got hit in the back” at Wolves, and Stefan Baisetic was forced to withdraw due to cramps.
The 55-year-old will face a major decision when it comes to his starting line-up anyway, and players like Baisetic, Naby Keita and Joe Gomez made an impression on Tuesday.
It would have been tempting to leave ineffective starting players like Fabinho and Joel Matip on the sidelines, but Klopp didn’t want to do that.
“I don’t think right now, right after one game, you could say, ‘OK, now this is the team for the next eight weeks,'” he said.
However, Klopp added: “Of course, the door is open for everyone. We have to fight, those who are ready to fight have a good chance to play.”
