Jamie Carragher stressed that other teams' injury records is out of their control, after claims Kevin De Bruyne's Manchester City return would worry their title challengers.
De Bruyne picked up an injury against Burnley on the opening weekend of the season, and only returned this month
He made an instant impact in his first Premier League outing for five months, scoring an equaliser against Newcastle before laying on a late winner for Oscar Bobb.
The Reds were sitting top before their trip to Bournemouth on Sunday. They sit 5 points clear following their victory over Bournemouth.
Liverpool have had some injury issues of their own this term, with Thiago and Stefan Bajcetic both long-term absentees and Mo Salah suffering a worrying setback at the Africa Cup of Nations
On the De Bruyne front, though, Carragher reminded his old club what they can control and what they can't.
Carragher
"Maybe Liverpool have been a little bit fortunate when you look at their injury record this season and the other clubs, but they’ve still got FA Cupmatches and Carabao Cup matches also,"
The big thing for me, remember when Jurgen Klopp said that everyone is quaking in their boots because Kevin De Bruyne is coming back, we can’t control that.
"The best thing both Liverpool and Manchester City have done over the last few years is not be controlled by each other, they’re just like machines that keep winning games.
"This Liverpool team is quite different to the Jurgen Klopp teams that have come before them so they need to show they have the mentality to win the league title. Forget about what City are doing, Liverpool just have to win their own games."
Klopp was asked about Salah's potential return date and insisted the club weren't "scrambling" to cover for the Egyptian.
Klopp
"He’s away, he’s injured as well, we don’t know how long that will take but I’m happy with the team we have today," he said before kick-off at Bournemouth.
Commentaires