Fabinho will undergo a scan on Wednesday after suffering a hamstring injury during Liverpool’s win over FC Midtjylland, with Jurgen Klopp declaring it ‘the last thing we needed’.
The midfielder, who’s stood in at centre-back for the last three matches, pulled up just shy of the half-hour mark at Anfield in Tuesday night’s Champions League clash at Anfield and was replaced by youngster Rhys Williams.
Liverpool have already lost Virgil van Dijk for up to eight months after he damaged knee ligaments against Everton earlier this month, while Joel Matip has also been sidelined since the Merseyside derby.
Klopp couldn’t say how long he expected Fabinho to be out for, as the club will know more after the player has a scan on Wednesday.
But the Liverpool boss admitted the early signs don’t look good.
He said after the match: “It’s exactly the last thing we needed. I know he felt a hamstring, and that’s not good. He said he could have played on but no sprints, which doesn’t help.
“We have to wait for the scan obviously but when someone’s going off with a muscle problem then it’s pretty rare that the doc calls me the next morning and says ‘false alarm, it’s all fine. He can go again’.
“It’s now only about how long, that’s all. Absolutely not cool but that’s the situation.”
The Brazilian’s injury came on a night where Liverpool didn’t have it all their own way, as the six-time European champions laboured to a 2-0 win over the Danish side thanks to Diogo Jota’s tap-in and Mohamed Salah’s penalty.
Fabinho’s departure meant Klopp was forced to bring on 19-year-old centre-back Williams, who partnered Joe Gomez for the rest of the game.
Williams was making his first Champions League appearance at Anfield but didn’t let the occasion get the better of him as he helped Liverpool keep a clean sheet.
And Klopp was delighted with the youngster’s efforts.
Klopp added: “When you lose in the first half pretty much one of the last men standing in the back and you bring on a 19-year-old kid, nobody knows how that’ll work out.
“But Rhys did not have a problem in one situation. He did really well, that was really good!
“He was even commanding, chatty and all that sort of stuff so it was a really good game from him.”
Klopp may habe no choice but to start Williams in Saturday’s home clash with West Ham, with Klopp having few other options.
Asked if Matip could be back for the game, Klopp said: “I don’t know, we have to see”.
There were also fears among Liverpool fans that captain Jordan Henderson had sustained an injury on Tuesday night as he was substituted at half-time.
However, Klopp revealed that Henderson is fine and the decision to take him off was tactical.
Klopp said: “I decided before the game Hendo would only play 45 minutes. He wanted to go on but I made the change.
“At half time we had to change things… Hendo is fine! He wanted to stay on the pitch but I had to show a little bit of responsibility.”