Liverpool are waiting to discover the full extent of Naby Keita’s back injury after the midfielder was carted off in their Champions League defeat to Napoli.
Keita went down just 19 minutes into the Reds’ 1-0 loss in Italy, to be replaced by Jordan Henderson. The Guinean was taken to a local hospital as a precautionary measure after complaining of severe pain in his back, with the club awaiting the results of tests.
Liverpool stayed in Naples on Wednesday evening and Keita is expected to be discharged in time to fly back to Merseyside with the team on Thursday morning.
At this stage there is no indication how long the issue will keep Keita out of action, but the 23-year-old will almost certainly miss Sunday’s Premier League game against Manchester City. Liverpool do, however, have a two-week gap between fixtures after that due to the international break.
Klopp made no excuses for his side’s sloppy, lethargic display at Stadio San Paolo . Liverpool had looked like escaping with a goalless draw only for Lorenzo Insigne to strike in the final minute to give Napoli a deserved victory.
The result leaves Liverpool with three points from their opening two group matches, level with Paris Saint-Germain, who beat Red Star Belgrade 6-1 on Wednesday, and one point behind Napoli.
However, with back-to-back fixtures against Red Star to come, Klopp’s side will remain confident of progressing to the knockout stages despite Wednesday’s setback.