Dejan Lovren hasn’t travelled with the squad ahead of Wednesday night’s second-leg quarter-final tie against FC Porto in the Champions League.
After speaking with the club’s official site, manager Jurgen Klopp has given his reasons as to why:
Dejan is ill. He had a bad night, the Doc was there and he had no chance to travel. That is the reason for that.
We have Joe [Gomez], so should be fine for that, we have Fabinho for the position. So that should be OK. We never forced it and we cannot force it.
If you feel not well and had a bad night, we all know a day later and a high intense game, it doesn’t sound like exactly the thing you should do.
Klopp is confident that the role will be filled by the other options available, with English defender Joe Gomez making an appearance on the bench last week against Porto, the first since his injury.
Brazillian defensive midfielder Fabinho is also able to drop back into a deeper role in defence.
Lovren has struggled with injury problems throughout the campaign so far, and it seems he has been dealt yet another blow as he contends with illness.
The defender will be keen to make himself available for Sunday’s trip to Cardiff City in the Premier League.
Liverpool will be looking to finish the job on Wednesday night, as they take a two-goal lead to Estadio do Dragao.
