Liverpool have been dealt a major double blow with the news that Mohamed Salah is set to miss the visit of Leicester City while Thiago Alcantara is also a doubt for the game.
Salah has been self-isolating since Friday when the Liverpool forward first tested positive for COVID-19 and he was therefore forced to miss Egypt’s African Cup of Nations qualifying double header against Togo.
Liverpool hoped Salah would be allowed to fly back to Merseyside and be in contention for their Premier League clash with Leicester at Anfield on Saturday had he returned a negative test this week.
However, the Egyptian FA have released a statement today confirming that Salah has tested positive for a second time meaning he’ll have to continue self-isolating in his homeland before being allowed to fly back to England.
As cited by The Athletic, the statement said:
“Today, Mohamed Salah, the star of the national team and the English club Liverpool, made a new swab to detect the COVID-19 virus, but its result was positive.”
The news will be a big blow to Jurgen Klopp as the Reds boss has been dealing with a number of fitness and selection issues this season with Virgil van Dijk, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Joe Gomez and Fabinho all currently ruled out.
Thiago Alcantara has also been on the sidelines for the last month with a knee injury and journalist David Lynch claims the midfielder remains a major doubt for this weekend’s action.
When asked about Thiago’s availability this weekend, Lynch said the Spaniard is yet to resume full training meaning he could now miss Liverpool’s clash with Leicester at Anfield.
Not necessarily not ready for the game but he was not ready for full training as of yesterday (on my understanding) and that's a big worry in terms of featuring at the weekend.
— David Lynch (@dmlynch) November 18, 2020
No doubt Liverpool will give Thiago every opportunity to prove his fitness but unless he’s able to return to full training on Thursday or Friday, it’s unlikely the midfielder will be passed fit to face the Foxes on Sunday afternoon.
If Thiago is ruled out then Klopp will have a decision to make over who’ll start in midfield as Fabinho is also missing. Jordan Henderson and Gini Wijnaldum should keep their places while the likes of Naby Keita and Curtis Jones are pushing for recalls.
Liverpool head into the weekend action sitting third in the Premier League table – one point behind leaders Leicester – so they’ll be keen to leapfrog the Foxes with a win at Anfield.
