He only lasted three minutes
Liverpool narrowly beat Crystal Palace in the early kick-off this Saturday thanks to a late goal from the man of the moment, Mohamed Salah. The win secured three important points for Liverpool, who are still hoping to overtake arch rivals Manchester United and steal second spot, with Man City all but guaranteed to be crowned Champions in the next few weeks.
The win was tainted, however, by an injury sustained by Adam Lallana, only three minutes after he came on as a substitute. The midfielder has struggled with injuries this season and has lost his place as a starter, with Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Emre Can and James Milner all performing when called upon.
As a result, Lallana also lost his place as a guaranteed starter in the England XI, which very few people would have predicted after he was one of the only England players to perform at Euro 2016. He was still a shoo-in to go to the upcoming World Cup, though, but now that dream may be over.
Jürgen Klopp spoke after the game and while he couldn’t put a time frame on how long Lallana would be out for, he said it looked “absolutely bad.”
“It looked really serious, like something with the muscle. A big big blow for us today. But it’s too early [to put a time frame on the injury]. We hope it won’t be that serious. That’s not for now to decide that. It’s just not good”, Klopp said.
Lallana was one of Liverpool’s key players last season, but has not been able to play much this season. The Reds also sold Philippe Coutinho in January, but they have adapted to playing without the creativity that the pair provided seamlessly.
“He is our boy, our friend, our mate, he is having a difficult season already,” added Klopp. ”Maybe the achievement of the season is that the team has been doing everything they’ve done without Adam Lallana.”
Lallana’s skill and creativity would be a miss for England in the summer, should he miss out through injury. While it makes it easier to pick the starting XI, there could be a Lewis Cook shaped hole in the squad.
