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Jurgen Klopp admits huge injury scare for Liverpool before of the Arsenal encounter.
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has confirmed that forward Darwin Nunez will undergo a late fitness test ahead of the crucial match against Arsenal on Sunday. Nunez, the Uruguay international, has been in impressive form with three goals and two assists in his last four Premier League games. His contributions have been crucial in compensating for the absence of star winger Mohamed Salah, who is sidelined due to a hamstring injury sustained at the Africa Cup of Nations.
Nunez showcased his skills against Chelsea in midweek but played through an injury, which has raised concerns among the medical staff. Klopp revealed that Nunez’s fitness will be assessed closely before the match against Arsenal, highlighting the importance of his presence in the team.
“A little side story you don’t know, I don’t know if Darwin will be available or not because after 20 minutes, someone stepped on his foot,” Klopp confessed. “Very painful after the game.
“He only took the boot the game off after the game because he didn’t want to see it before. He knew there was something.
“He left the stadium in a boot and it was not a football boot. Nothing broken, x-ray clear but swollen. We have to see if he can get his foot back in a football boot or not. That takes time. I didn’t see him this morning so we have to wait a little bit.”
If Nunez is unable to make it back in time for the match, Klopp would probably play Cody Gakpo alongside Luis Diaz and Diogo Jota, who both scored goals in the convincing 4-1 victory against Chelsea.
Jota has received a lot of attention lately, and Klopp acknowledged that the 27-year-old has everything he needs to succeed in the Premier League.
“He just has it,” the boss said. “He is a complete package, and he knows that and everyone knows that. He got a few injuries at the wrong time and if you get too many as well, he is unlucky and Diogo gets in each game knocks like crazy.
“If I go through the medical reports since Diogo is here and he is always there and not as ‘injured’ but just has a bruise, has a knock and he really gets it and on top of that a couple of times and he is out for too long or his numbers would look different.
“He was in really good shape before he got injured, came back and is in a really good shape, he is literally flying. Everything looks light, he is fresh, and looks explosive.
“On top of that he always is an extremely smart footballer. If the world looks to a country where it is not big but has a lot of extremely smart footballers it is Portugal. The amount of footballers they have delivered to the football world compared to the amount of people is crazy. And the kind of players, too. Really special.”