Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has acknowledged that Dejan Lovren could miss next week’s Champions League round of 16 first leg against Bayern Munich after failing to completely recover from a hamstring problem picked up last month.
The Croatia international suffered the injury during the opening minutes of the FA Cup third round tie against Wolves and he has since been on the sidelines with Joel Matip and Virgil van Dijk taking up the central defensive duties.
Speaking to Liverpool’s official website, Klopp has now confirmed that Lovren could be sidelined further than expected after suffering a setback which has restricted him from making the training camp in Marbella this week.
He added that the club’s medical team are doing their best to get the Croatian back to shape, although the chances remain slim for the moment, he said:
“Dejan is not here and Joe [Gomez] is not here. That’s never a good sign, I would say, but we will try everything to make Dejan available for Munich. It will be a tight race.”
With Lovren’s absence, Klopp could be forced to go with a makeshift centre-back for the Bayern clash, given Joe Gomez remains on the sidelines while Virgil van Dijk will sit out the game as he serves a one-match European suspension.
Fabinho appears the most probable candidate to partner Joel Matip at the heart of the defence, though James Milner remains another option on the cards with Alexander-Arnold likely to make his comeback at right-back for the Bayern clash.
