Liverpool team news: Klopp confirms blow as duo will miss West Ham trip

Liverpool will be looking to at least maintain their lead at the top of the table with a win when they take on West Ham at the London Stadium on Monday night.

Ahead of the game, Jurgen Klopp has been speaking to the media at his pre-match press conference this afternoon and he’s provided a full team news and injury update including the latest on Trent Alexander-Arnold and Joe Gomez.

Unfortunately, the Reds boss confirmed a blow with the news that Trent Alexander-Arnold has been ruled out of the game on Monday night after failing to recover from a knee injury.

The England international suffered the problem during the win over Brighton & Hove Albion on January 12th and has missed the last two matches against Crystal Palace and Leicester as a result.

He’ll also sit out the West Ham game, however, Klopp is hopeful Alexander-Arnold will return to full training next week so he should be available for Liverpool’s Premier League clash with Bournemouth at Anfield next weekend.

Klopp also confirmed that Joe Gomez remains on the sidelines and there is still no return date set for the defender as he continues to recover from a fractured leg that he sustained back in December.

The Liverpool boss went on to say that Gomez is expected to miss the first leg of their Champions League last-16 clash with Bayern Munich on February 19th but he hopes the youngster will be back shortly after that game.

Klopp told Liverpoolfc.com:

“No, both not [available]. [There’s] no return date for Joe. Trent is getting better and better and better.

“He is really close and I hope he is in full training next week, but not for Monday.”

Klopp on Gomez for Bayern Munich: I don't think so. Not a realistic target. After that? We will see.

— Ian Doyle (@IanDoyleSport) February 1, 2019

The only other injury concern for Liverpool is Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and the midfielder is continuing to work his way back to full fitness following a serious knee injury while James Milner returns from suspension on Monday.

Liverpool head in to the weekend action sitting five points clear of Manchester City at the top of the table after a frustrating draw with Leicester so they’ll be hoping to get back to winning ways at West Ham.