Jurgen Klopp has revealed that it is unlikely for Roberto Firmino to participate in Liverpool’s Champions League semi-final with Villarreal tonight.
Anfield plays host as Klopp’s side welcome the Spanish outfit in the first leg of a last-four contest.
The Brazil international, a £29 million signing in 2015, has been missing for Liverpool these past few weeks due to injury.
However, although Klopp isn’t ruling anything out, the German manager has revealed that he does not believe Firmino will be playing a role versus Unai Emery’s troops tonight.
He told a pre-match press conference: “He is running outside and that’s good, obviously, but I am not sure. Maybe somebody will surprise me afterwards and tell me, ‘Yes, Bobby is in,’ and I will have open arms, but I don’t think so. Apart from that, nothing that I know yet.”
Is Firmino fit for Liverpool?
Based on Klopp’s comments, no the former Hoffenheim attacker clearly isn’t ready to return to action for Liverpool just yet.
Klopp said in February, after Firmino scored in a Champions League victory over Inter Milan, that the player would be out ‘for a while’.
However, that is not the same injury that is holding the player back now, given that he had returned to action briefly since the Liverpool boss’s comments after the Inter tie.
Labelled ‘outstanding‘ by Andy Robertson this year, Firmino is a massive player for the Reds.
However, there’s no denying that Klopp’s troops can survive without him against Villarreal, given the wealth of attacking talent the Anfield club have at their disposal.
Sadio Mane and Diogo Jota are both capable of playing centrally, and then there’s Divock Origi who reminded Liverpool supporters of his game-changing capabilities with a goal in the Merseyside derby win over Everton this past weekend.
Despite Firmino’s absence, the Reds will be fine.
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