Why Roberto Firmino misses Liverpool’s clash with Fulham

Firmino misses out

Liverpool have confirmed that Roberto Firmino will be missing for their clash with Fulham this afternoon, with the Brazilian international suffering from a ‘minor knock’, which is unlikely to keep him out long term.

Jurgen Klopp is eyeing a recovery from a poor run of form at home, which has seen his side lose their last five games at Anfield.

The German coach has reacted to this by dropping mainstay Sadio Mane, and bringing back Portuguese signing Diogo Jota.

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Firmino misses out due to a minor knock.

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Trent Alexander-Arnold has also been benched, and replaced by Welsh international Neco Williams. Nathaniel Phillips and Rhys Williams are deputising in defence, with the Reds without Virgil Van Dijk, Joe Gomez, Joel Matip, Ozan Kabak and new signing Ben Davies.

Klopp confirmed that Kabak had picked up a knock after Liverpool’s defeat to Chelsea.

“Ozan had yesterday after the game a little problem. He has played a lot of games now and we will see if he is ready for Fulham,” he said.

“It doesn’t look like in the moment, so we will have to find solutions.”

Gini Wijnaldum, James Milner and Naby Keita make up a midfield three which is without Jordan Henderson, Fabinho and Thiago, though the latter has made the bench along with Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.

Salah sub explained

In the press conference ahead of his side’s meeting with Fulham, Jurgen Klopp was asked about the situation surrounding Mohamed Salah, who he decided to substitute in the 1-0 defeat to Chelsea in midweek.

“I’m not even sure if this situation is now a reason for a proper talk about it, because there were different things. We are 1-0 down, that makes no player happy. You go off, you can react how you react in different ways because you are not happy about the general game,” said Klopp.

“On top of that you get subbed, you are a striker, you think you should stay on the pitch, that’s all completely clear and not an issue. It’s just normal life. Apart from that, because you mention now Midtjylland, that’s so long ago, it was absolutely nothing. Mo is in a good mood, he scored goals after that. That’s all OK. These things are not our problem.”

When drawn on how Diogo Jota could help his team, Klopp again reiterated that Salah remains key, and that his goalscoring record speaks for itself:

“We all have to improve, definitely. You only lose games when you have more potential than the results show. It’s all about the performance, yes, and that’s where we all have to improve.”

“But Mo still has a great scoring record, but I’m sure everybody knows and he knows himself, even he could have scored more goals. But, again, Mo’s scoring record is not our problem. In general we have to improve, 100 per cent.”

Liverpool face Fulham at 2pm on Sunday afternoon.

Roberto Firmino continues to struggle as Liverpool are held by Man City

Klopp reiterates Roberto Firmino’s importance despite Jota form

This article was edited by Conor Laird.

Source: 101greatgoals.com