Mohamed Salah, Darwin Nunez and Dominik Szoboszlai injury updates issued by Liverpool ahead of Carabao Cup final meeting with Chelsea as four key players ruled out of Wembley showdown

Jurgen Klopp's side are in less-than-ideal shape fitness wise heading into the showpiece game at Wembley. It's been confirmed that Trent Alexander-Arnold, Alisson Becker, Curtis Jones and Diogo Jota will all miss the fixture due to injury, as will longer-term absentees Thiago Alcantara, Stefan Bajcetic, Ben Doak and Joel Matip. However, Lijnders has revealed that he is still holding out hope that Darwin Nunez, Mohamed Salah and Dominik Szoboszlai can feature in some capacity.

"We come in a crazy schedule again, so we play every three days. It's important for us to use each minute, use each day to really look how the players are. This is for Mo, Dom and Darwin," he told the club's official website.

"Two training sessions to go, let's see how they are and then we can make a decision in the last minute. "And all the others, we know it's longer. Ali has a muscle injury. Trent, LCL. Jota, medial ligament, MCL. Curtis [has] a high ankle sprain. They will be longer out. "Curtis is probably the first one [to come back] around the international break. All the others will be after the international break."

When asked if any further knocks had been picked up during a midweek victory over Luton Town, he added: "So far I know not. All the boys had a day off yesterday but for us a day off means that they come in and they have treatment and, of course, we have to prepare the final.

"But for the boys it's proper recovery, so they all feel the necessity to use [it] in these moments where you play every three days and where certain boys have to play more because of the injuries. So, they are treating their body well, they are trying everything to be fresh, to be fit. But you know with our style, how we play, it's important. You have to respect the recovery as much as you respect the performance."

Salah, Szoboszlai and Nunez all missed that win over the Hatters, where the Reds recovered from going a goal down to secure a 4-1 victory. With Klopp set to depart Anfield at the end of the season, the squad will be especially motivated to compete on all fronts this campaign, and Liverpool have the chance to secure their first silverware of the season on Sunday.

This weekend's meeting will be the third League Cup final contested between the two teams. Back in 2005, Chelsea triumphed 3-2 after extra time, with Steven Gerrard scoring an own goal. More recently, Liverpool won the 2022 final, eventually coming out on top during a tense penalty shootout after a drab 120 minutes.

After facing Chelsea, the games keep on coming thick and fast for Klopp's charges. The following Wednesday they host Southampton in the FA Cup fifth round, before travelling to Nottingham Forest in the Premier League the following weekend. The Reds will be keeping everything crossed that some of their injury issues clear up before then.