Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp believes his team’s crucial match against Chelsea will take place on Sunday despite three new cases of coronavirus at their camp, as another Premier League match was suspended.
Klopp declined to name the players on Friday as they awaited test results, but striker Roberto Firmino and goalkeeper Alisson Becker were not featured in images released by Liverpool of a club training session.
Both sides will view the match at Stamford Bridge as a must-win match as they look to keep up with defending champion Manchester City, who are eight points clear at the top.
“We have three new Covid cases on the team and a few more on the staff, so it’s not that great at the moment,” Klopp said at his pre-match press conference.
“I can’t say who it is because we have to do the whole process, get a proper PCR (test), but you’ll see the day after tomorrow on the team sheet; it will be quite clear who is affected or infected. ”
The German, whose team is third in the table, one point behind Chelsea, added: “We never had this outbreak where 15-20 players had it. For us it is every day, another, things happen more and more frequently.
“It’s like a lottery in the morning, waiting for the result. It is practically the day to day, always one case, then another.
“Right now (we) probably won’t (ask for a postponement) but we don’t know what it will look like in a few hours.”
In addition to the three Covid cases, the injured Takumi Minamino and Thiago Alcantara will miss the trip to Chelsea.
Klopp’s comments came as Southampton’s Premier League match at home to Newcastle on Sunday was postponed due to Covid cases in the visitor’s camp.
The match at St Mary’s is the second in Premier League week 21 to be postponed, following the announcement on Thursday that the New Year’s Day clash between Leicester and Norwich was off.
– Arteta’s absence –
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta said he was frustrated about missing Saturday’s game against City as he isolates himself after a second positive test.
“It will be very strange,” said Arteta, whose team is fourth in the table. “I’ll need a big room so I can walk and move around a bit, because I won’t be able to stand on the couch.”
The Spaniard, who also had coronavirus in March 2020, added: “It’s a great game for us and it’s very frustrating not being able to be there helping the team.
“But I will do the best I can from here, with everything I can, and we have prepared for all possible scenarios and they know what we have to do.”
Wolves manager Bruno Lage admitted that even his players weren’t sure they would be fit to face Manchester United on Monday after a virus outbreak forced this week’s trip to Arsenal to be postponed.
“After 10 days without playing, in your mind, getting ready to play is difficult,” Lage said. “Today I was talking to a player and I asked him ‘are you ready to play?’
“He said, ‘I really don’t know.’ After 10 days without playing or training, it takes time to make the right decisions. ”