Liverpool XI vs Chelsea: No Salah - Starting lineup, confirmed team news, injury latest for Carabao Cup final
Liverpool are without Mohamed Salah, Darwin Nunez and Dominik Szoboszlai for today’s Carabao Cup final meeting with Chelsea.
Salah was absent from Wednesday night’s 4-1 comeback win over Luton in the Premier League at Anfield after suffering from muscle fatigue, having only recently returned from a hamstring injury suffered while away with Egypt at the Africa Cup of Nations last month.
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Nunez was also missing in midweek having picked up an unspecified issue that forced his half-time exit after he scored a brilliant chip in the emphatic victory away at Brentford last weekend.
Szoboszlai, meanwhile, had previously been rated as having an outside chance of featuring against Chelsea while recovering from a hamstring injury suffered in the 4-1 league win over the Blues at Anfield on January 31. However, he too is not fit enough to even make the bench.
All three players were being monitored right up until game day, but were not with their team-mates earlier on Sunday for an early look at the pitch.
Jurgen Klopp’s assistant Pep Lijnders told reporters on Friday: “We come in a crazy schedule again, so we play every three days. It's important for us to use each minute, use each day to really look how the players are. This is for Mo, Dom and Darwin.
“Two training sessions to go, let's see how they are and then we can make a decision in the last minute. And all the others, we know it's longer.”
Caoimhin Kelleher starts in goal at Wembley after Alisson Becker was ruled out by the Brazilian national team boss for a month, with Conor Bradley continuing at right-back amid Trent Alexander-Arnold’s absence. The England international is expected back at the end of next month.
Otherwise, Klopp has the rare luxury of a first-choice central defensive partnership with Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate to join Andrew Robertson at the back, after the Scot and Konate were both rested in midweek.
An ankle sprain means Curtis Jones will miss out until after the March international break, as Wataru Endo and Ryan Gravenberch line up up alongside Alexis Mac Allister.
With Diogo Jota ruled out for a number of months with a knee injury and Salah and Nunez also unavailable, it is Harvey Elliott and Cody Gakpo who start in the front three. Both scored in midweek.
Liverpool are also still without the likes of Thiago Alcantara, Joel Matip, Stefan Bajcetic and Ben Doak.
Liverpool XI: Kelleher, Bradley, Konate, Van Dijk, Robertson, Endo, Mac Allister, Gravenberch, Elliott, Diaz, Gakpo
Subs: Adrian, Gomez, Tsimikas, Quansah, Clark, O'Connell, Koumas, Danns, Nyoni
Time and date: 3pm GMT on Sunday February 25, 2024
Venue: Wembley Stadium
TV channel: Sky Sports