Liverpool releases list of four key players to miss Premier League opener

Liverpool begins their 2022-23 Premier League season at Fulham.

Many aspects of Liverpool’s preseason will please Jurgen Klopp.

The cherry on top was that he won the Community Shield for the first time as manager at Anfield.

On Saturday, Manchester City was defeated 3-1 at the King Power Stadium.

Darwin Nunez has made a bright start to his Reds career after replacing Sadio Mane, while Mo Salah’s future had been resolved after he signed a new three-year deal.

And plenty of youngsters – including new boy Fabio Carvalho – have impressed.

The one aspect that will rankle Klopp, though, is the number of injuries that Liverpool has picked up.

With the 2022-23 Premier League season starting with a trip to Fulham, the Reds have some concerns.

Klopp is hopeful that Alisson Becker will be fit to play. The No.1 keeper sustained an issue during Liverpool’s pre-season tour of Asia and made only one friendly outing.

Deputy stopper Caoimhin Kelleher has already been ruled out of the Fulham clash.

He suffered a recurred issue he first felt while on the Republic of Ireland duty in June and did not make a single pre-season outing.

Alisson and Kelleher’s absences meant that Adrian played in the Community Shield final.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is set to continue to be on the treatment table for a substantial period.

The midfielder suffered a hamstring injury against Crystal Palace during the Reds’ pre-season tour of Asia.

Klopp has admitted that Oxlade-Chamberlain’s setback is ‘serious’.

Diogo Jota has also been nursing a similar issue. The striker first felt his issue playing for Portugal in June and only featured in the Reds’ opening pre-season game – a 4-0 loss to Manchester United.

Jota was left at home for Liverpool’s training camp in Austria.

Meanwhile, Kostas Tsimikas was absent for the friendly loss to Red Bull Salzburg, the Community Shield and a 3-0 defeat to Strasbourg at Anfield on Sunday.

He picked up a knock during training in Austria.

To add to Klopp’s concerns, Ibrahima Konate limped off in the second half against Strasbourg.

However, the Liverpool boss was hopeful the center-back’s issue wasn’t too serious.

Naby Keita was a surprise absentee but was ill.

But Klopp was ambiguous about Curtis Jones’ issue that ruled him out of the Strasbourg game when he was set to start.

The 21-year-old was spotted in a protective boot – although that may have just been precautionary. Jones was due to have a scan yesterday.