Jurgen Klopp stated that Liverpool will require some miraculous performances to overcome their injury crisis and come out successful in the FA Cup match against Southampton.

Jurgen Klopp has expressed his concerns over Liverpool’s injury crisis, admitting that the team will need “miracles” to ease their current load.

The Reds are set to face Southampton in an FA Cup fifth round clash on Wednesday, but they will be without several key players including Diogo Jota, Darwin Nunez, and Trent Alexander-Arnold who are sidelined due to injuries.

Adding to their woes, Ryan Gravenberch suffered an ankle ligament problem during the Carabao Cup final win over Chelsea. Although the injury is not as severe as initially feared, the Dutch international will still miss the upcoming game at Anfield.

Klopp stated, “Ryan is not available. It could have been worse, but it is bad enough to rule him out of this game and the next game. We shall see. We need miracles for a few players, so I don’t want to rule them out for too long. But it is touch and go with a lot of the boys who were not available for the final.”

Liverpool’s injury crisis comes at a crucial time as they currently sit at the top of the Premier League table with Manchester City closely trailing behind. Additionally, they are about to resume their pursuit of UEFA Europa League success with a two-legged clash against Sparta Prague starting next week.

The return of midfielder Thiago Alcantara, who has only made one appearance this season due to hip surgery, would have been a boost for the team. However, Klopp admitted uncertainty regarding the Spaniard’s availability for the remainder of the season as his contract expires in the summer.

Klopp stated, “It’s not a short-term thing, that’s why I’m not really in the subject. It’s not that he might be in training in two weeks or something like this. Cannot say more about it, to be honest. The region is the same.”

On a more positive note, young player Stefan Bajcetic could make a return sooner than expected. The 19-year-old, who has made two appearances this season, has been sidelined for six months. However, Klopp revealed that Bajcetic is gaining fitness and is pain-free, but the decision to include him in team training is yet to be made.

Klopp said, “I had lunch here and saw him training. I sat there and thought ‘why is he not playing?’ He’s obviously gaining fitness now. He’s running around like ‘wow!’ He’s doing everything but he didn’t get the green light yet for us for the team training. And there’s nobody in this building who wants to hold him back, so there might be some reasons. He’s pain-free, completely pain-free, which is the most important thing. All checks we made, scans again, bone looks good, all fine. Now we just need to make sure of the moment we use him again in normal training because the difficulty of football is such a complex sport for the body. For me, he looks good, but how good, I get told. I cannot decide. Nobody told me he will be back soon.”