How bad is Liverpool midfielder Thiago's injury & how many games will he miss?

Liverpool endured a tough start to the new Premier League season by drawing 2-2 away at newly-promoted Fulham, and their day was made even worse by an injury to midfielder Thiago. The Spaniard limped off the pitch just six minutes into the second half after what looked like a rather innocuous incident.

The Reds' current injury list is already quite expansive with Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Curtis Jones, Diogo Jota, Kostas Tsimikas and Ibrahima Konate all sidelined, while Naby Keita is only just back in training after illness.

What have Liverpool said about Thiago?

Liverpool have not revealed how serious the injury is just yet and have confirmed only that Thiago "will undergo further assessment to determine the severity of it [the injury]."

The Reds do have over a week until their next Premier League outing. Crystal Palace are the first visitors to Anfield this season in the Premier League with the teams set to meet on August 15.

After that, on August 22, the Merseyside team will play a headline clash against Manchester United at Old Trafford, followed by a home game against Bournemouth five days later before they welcome Newcastle to Anfield on August 31.

What options do Liverpool have?

Liverpool still have several midfielders fit, notably Jordan Henderson, Fabinho and James Milner. Towards the end of the game Jurgen Klopp was also able to call on the services of ex-Fulham youngsters Harvey Elliott and Fabio Carvalho.

The Liverpool boss spoke about the issue after the game and was adamant that the club must not panic in the transfer window after losing several key players due to injury.

"I know what will now come up, it's clear. We said we don’t need a midfielder because we have enough - and we actually have enough, but the problem now is we get punished for something that is not our responsibility really because things like this can happen. 

"Nobody could image that Curtis gets the thing he gets; it is nothing serious but he is a young boy and it is a kind of stress reaction. Bodies are like this. Naby is only ill and he will now be back definitely next week again. Oxlade happened early and now with Thiago that is, of course, not good and we will see. 

"Look, a transfer must make sense now and in the long-term; we have midfielders, we have still enough midfielders. It is not that we lack midfielders, but it’s just some of them are injured. 

"This is not a good situation, I don’t like it at all, but we have to see how we react on that - but for sure not panicking."