Liverpool head to London on Saturday to play Tottenham Hotspur. The Reds started Saturday atop the Premier League with 13 points separating them from second-placed Leicester City. Brendan Rodgers will hope Spurs can take points off of Liverpool to help his Leicester City team narrow the gap with the league leaders.
Milner and Keita ruled out
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp will be without two key midfielders for the trip to Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Vice-captain James Milner and Naby Keita are ruled out of the fixture due to their respective injuries. Keita has a groin injury which was suffered prior to Liverpool’s match versus Sheffield United.
Milner suffered a leg injury last weekend during Liverpool’s FA Cup third-round win over Everton. According to Klopp, the medical staff has not identified a return date for either midfielder.
There was good news revealed by Klopp in the lead up to Saturday’s game against Tottenham Hotspur. Midfielder Fabinho and centre-back Dejan Lovren will return to full-team training next week in hopes of returning to the first-team for Liverpool’s 19 January match against Manchester United at Anfield.
Shaqiri nearing return
Klopp is likely to have Xherdan Shaqiri available for the Tottenham Hotspur match. Shaqiri suffered a minor hamstring injury which disrupted a good run of form. He could be on the bench for the game. However, centre-back Joel Matip will need more time before he returns from his knee injury. Although he is training with the team, he hasn’t completed a full first-team training session.
Klopp will have new signing Takumi Minamino on the bench. The Japanese international could make his Premier League debut. With Liverpool coming off of a 1-0 win in the FA Cup third round last weekend, Klopp should have a fresh squad after rotating his side.
Tottenham Hotspur will be without Harry Kane due to a hamstring injury. The striker scored against Liverpool in their previous match at Anfield. In the build-up to the match, Spurs manager Jose Mourinho has bemoaned Kane’s latest injury and a lack of strikers available for Saturday’s match.