Liverpool have been dealt another major potential injury blow as Fabinho was forced off during the first half of their Champions League tie against FC Midtjylland.
The Brazilian midfielder has been filling in at centre back for Jurgen Klopp’s side after Virgil van Dijk suffered a knee injury in the Merseyside Derby ten days ago.
Fabinho appeared to pull up with a hamstring injury with no-one around him and he was replaced by teenager Rhys Williams. The midfielder was running back to defend a cross before he pulled up and limped off the pitch. He was able to walk off with support from a member of Liverpool's medical staff.
Fabinho has been playing alongside Joe Gomez at the heart of the Reds defence since van Dijk went down, potentially for the remainder of the season, with Joel Matip also unavailable to Klopp’s Premier League champions.
An injury to the midfielder means that Gomez is the only senior player fit who can play for Klopp’s side at centre back.
Speaking post-match after Liverpool saw off their Danish opponents 2-0 at Anfield, Klopp said: "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 will see, we will know more after a scan.”
For West Ham, they have their own injury problem heading into Saturday's game and that is over Michail Antonio.
The Hammers striker was set to have a second scan on his own possible hamstring injury on Tuesday having been forced off at the weekend during the 1-1 draw against Manchester City at London Stadium.
It was the second game in succession that the in-form frontman has been subbed off as a precaution as his troublesome hamstrings continue to rear its head, a problem that has plagued him throughout his career.
Hammers manager David Moyes said of Antonio's latest setback: “We don’t know, we will have a check. He came off against Spurs with something similar. He didn’t miss training so we hope it’s not much. He is so important to us. He couldn’t decide if he was cramping up or not. We will get him scanned and see how he is.”
