Bad news for the Liverpool faithful ahead of Saturday’s Community Shield against Premier League champions Manchester City.
Starting goalkeeper Alisson and forward Diogo Jota will not be involved in the clash, with both confirmed out by Jurgen Klopp. Alisson only featured in Liverpool’s first pre-season friendly against Manchester United, in Thailand, then being sidelined with an abdominal problem. Jota sustained a hamstring injury while on national team duty in June and is yet to make a full recovery. Both Alisson and Jota are expected to be fit for Liverpool’s Premier League opener on 6 Aug. against Fulham.
“Alisson and Diogo, no,” Klopp said on Thursday. “Alisson trained today more than the day before, so he will definitely be available for Fulham but not for the weekend. Same for Diogo, that will take a while, unfortunately,” the Liverpool manager added.
Liverpool will not count on second choice keeper Caoimhin Kelleher either. He missed the 1-0 defeat vs Salzburg, with veteran keeper Adrian playing between the sticks. The Spaniard is expected to start in goal against City, with one of 18-year-olds Harvey Davies and Fabian Mrozek as back-up.
After playing the Community Shield on Saturday in Leicester, Liverpool meets Strasbourg at Anfield just 24 hours later in the final pre-season friendly before the Premier League kicks off the following weekend.
City on top
City sits at +130 to win the Community Shield, the match which opposes the Premier League and FA Cup winners each summer. Liverpool is at +190 to triumph in normal time, with a draw at +250.
City sits at -150 to lift the trophy, while Liverpool now stands at +110. 1-1 is the likeliest score after 90 minutes, as the bookies place it at +500. A 3-0 win for Liverpool is at +2500, while a similar result in City’s favor sits at +1900.
The Norwegian goal machine Erling Haaland is the odds favorite to score anytime in the match at +110. Haaland sits ahead of Salah (+170), Julian Alvarez (+180), and Darwin Nunez (+190).