Klopp hopeful Keita injury is 'not so serious'

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp says he is hopeful that Naby Keita's injury is "not so serious" after the midfielder was forced out of Wednesday's Carabao Cup victory over Arsenal.

The Reds beat the Gunners in stunning fashion  at Anfield, winning a penalty shootout following a thrilling 5-5 draw through 90 minutes.

Arsenal maintained an advantage throughout most of the first half, with the visitors bouncing back from an early Shkodran Mustafi own goal with a double from Gabriel Martinelli and a finish from Lucas Torreira.

A 43rd-minute James Milner spot-kick brought it to 3-2 before half-time, with Arsenal then jumping back into a two-goal lead through Ainsley Maitland-Niles early in the second period.

From there, an Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain goal and a Divock Origi brace, headlined by a stoppage-time equaliser, cancelled out Joe Willock's goal to force a shootout.

Liverpool capped a thrilling evening as they took advantage of a miss from Dani Ceballos to seal victory and a spot in the final eight.

However, the victory was dampened slightly by Keita's injury, as the midfielder was forced out of the match in the 54th minute after slipping and picking up an apparent knock.

He was replaced by Curtis Jones, who went on to score the decisive fifth penalty and seal the victory for Liverpool.

Klopp is hopeful that Keita's injury will not cause the midfielder to miss much time, especially given the wave of fixtures scheduled in the coming weeks.

“If Naby’s injury is not so serious, which I hope, then it was a nearly perfect night,” Klopp told the club's official website at full-time.

“He felt a little bit. I saw it, he slipped when he lost the ball. He slipped away, I saw him limping afterwards and that’s why we did it.”

Keita has endured a stop-start career at Liverpool, having joined the Reds from RB Leipzig in the summer of 2018.

The Guinea international made 33 appearances last season, but has been limited to just six this campaign, with only one appearance in the Premier League.

League-leaders Liverpool are set to visit Aston Villa on Saturday as they look to keep their unbeaten Premier League record.

After that, focus will turn towards the Champions League, where the defending champions will host Belgian side Genk.