Not again, surely? Robertson injury has Liverpool worried ahead of Premier League opener

Oh no, not once more certainly?

The season hasn’t even begun but, and Liverpool are fretting over accidents.

If Jurgen Klopp hoped he’d used up all his unhealthy luck final 12 months, it appears like he may need been mistaken. 

As a result of per week earlier than the brand new Premier League marketing campaign, the Reds boss may have one other sizeable headache to take care of.

The sight of Andy Robertson, one of many membership’s most constant and sturdy performers, hobbling off through the pre-season pleasant draw with Athletic Membership at Anfield on Sunday is sufficient to ship supporters right into a panic. 

Robertson went over on his proper ankle blocking a cross from Alex Berenguer, shortly earlier than half-time. The ache was instant, the Scot masking his face because the Kop, for the primary time all afternoon, fell silent.

There have been large cheers as, gingerly, he rose to his ft a minute or so later, however there was no probability of him carrying on. The stretcher was rejected, at the least, however Robertson seemed something however snug as he was helped from the sphere. There was a fast phrase with Klopp on the sideline, earlier than he headed down the tunnel for remedy. 

Regarding, to say the least. Robertson didn’t miss a Premier League recreation final season, however with solely six days till Liverpool head to Norwich, that run appears to be in severe doubt. 

Step ahead Kostas Tsimikas, then. The Greece worldwide managed lower than 10 minutes of league soccer final season following his transfer from Olympiacos, however he may discover himself underneath the highlight at Carrow Street. The excellent news, at the least, is that he has seemed sharp throughout pre-season. He’ll function right here towards Osasuna on Monday evening. 

It felt like Robertson’s harm overshadowed what had, till that time, seemed like being a greater than helpful train for Liverpool. Klopp can have been happy by plenty of what he noticed within the first half right here, whereas the sight (and sound) of practically 40,000 followers inside Anfield was sufficient to get the heartbeat racing once more. How we’ve all missed that over the previous 18 months.

Liverpool have been in a position to give Virgil van Dijk his first outing on residence soil in additional than 10 months. The Dutchman managed 71 minutes alongside Joel Matip within the coronary heart of defence, and whereas there have been comprehensible indicators of rustiness, the sight of him pinging diagonal passes out to Mo Salah and throwing his head at Trent Alexander-Arnold’s corners supplied loads of trigger for optimism. He may not be prepared for Norwich subsequent weekend, however he received’t be distant. And Liverpool, don’t overlook, have Matip, new signing Ibrahima Konate, the returning Joe Gomez and the brand new cult hero Nat Phillips to select from, in any case.

In addition they have, in Harvey Elliott, a younger man who could properly give them an additional, surprising dimension this season. The 18-year-old has been excellent in pre-season, and he was once more right here. Taking part in as a right-sided quantity eight, Elliott has performed his first-team prospects no hurt in any respect. He’ll save the membership thousands and thousands sooner or later. 

There’s a contact and an consciousness about him which belies his tender years, and he virtually adorned a stellar show with essentially the most fantastic of targets. As an alternative, his fierce, curling effort struck the angle of publish and bar, with the Kop already on its ft. 

Elliott seemed sharp as a tack, as did Sadio Mane and Diogo Jota, who grabbed the Reds’ objective early on with a scientific angled end. The Portugal worldwide ought to actually begin at Norwich, with Roberto Firmino solely simply again from his vacation. Regardless, the Brazilian is aware of he has a struggle on his palms this season. 

There was nonetheless no pre-season objective for Salah, although it was not for the need of attempting. The Egyptian, like Mane, appears refreshed and rebooted after his summer season break, fast and hungry. And when the season begins, Liverpool know they will rely on him to search out that scoring contact. 

Those that didn’t function right here will achieve this on Monday evening. There will probably be run-outs for Thiago Alcantara and Jordan Henderson, their first of pre-season, whereas the likes of Gomez, Konate, Fabinho and Firmino will all play, together with first-team hopefuls Curtis Jones, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Takumi Minamino.

It’s Tsimikas, although, who will probably be of most curiosity maybe. After a 12 months within the shadows on Merseyside, it might be time for him to see him underneath the highlight.