Adam Lallana is set to miss the Merseyside derby on Saturday after reporting back to Liverpool with an injury suffered playing for England.
The 28-year-old featured in both England’s games during the international break, playing for an hour in the friendly in Germany and the full 90 minutes of the World Cup qualifier against Lithuania at Wembley. He received a kick on the thigh in the latter match, however, and found he was unable to train with his Liverpool team‑mates on Tuesday. While the club have not put a timescale on Lallana’s recovery, there are concerns he could be out for up to a month.
Liverpool are also likely to be without Lallana’s fellow midfielder and captain, Jordan Henderson, for the early kick-off against Everton on Saturday. The former Sunderland player has been out since February with a foot injury, and though he managed to take part in Liverpool’s warm weather training camp in Tenerife last week he was not ready to train on Tuesday and must now be considered doubtful to be fit in time for the weekend.
Liverpool will be particularly frustrated by Lallana’s absence as, apart from the player’s importance to the pressing game favoured by Jürgen Klopp, it is the second time this season he has returned from international duty with an injury. In November he picked up a groin strain in the 2-2 draw with Spain that led to his absence for three matches. This time, although the injury initially did not seem as serious, he could be out for even longer.
Liverpool can switch things around in midfield to a certain extent, perhaps moving James Milner forward from left-back or bringing in Divock Origi or Daniel Sturridge into attack.
But without Lallana and Henderson they will be hoping the Brazilian pair Philippe Coutinho and Roberto Firmino make it back from South America unscathed. The club have chartered a private jet to bring the players from Brazil following the World Cup qualifier against Paraguay, to ensure they are back on Merseyside in time to prepare properly for the derby.
Though Liverpool are in a top-four position they are only four points ahead of Manchester United, who have two games in hand. The game against Everton takes on even more significance than usual as it is the last time Liverpool have to play against major rivals in the league this season.
Everton are not quite top-six opponents, though they did briefly attain that status before the international break. But after the derby Liverpool’s run-in is relatively gentle, mostly featuring teams from the bottom half of the table.
Intriguingly, Liverpool have tended to trip up against lower-placed teams this season, whereas their record against leading sides is strong. “We can’t afford to make any mistakes, all the games are like finals,” Coutinho said. “Our aim is to finish in the top four and we need all the points we can get.”
