Liverpool mourns the loss of a true club legend this week while Jürgen Klopp also provided an injury update ahead of the Chelsea game on Thursday.
Club mourns the passing of a true great from the Bill Shankly era
On Tuesday, news broke that the legendary former Liverpool striker Ian St John had passed away at the age of 82.
Over 10 years at the club, from 1961 to 1971, St John played 425 times for Liverpool and scored 118 goals.
Probably the most notable of his goals was the acrobatic headed effort he scored against Leeds to win Liverpool’s first-ever FA Cup in the 1965 final at Wembley.
Ian St John was a much-loved figure all around Merseyside and he will be greatly missed.
Our thoughts and condolences are with the family of Ian St John at this difficult time.
We are deeply saddened by the passing of a true Anfield legend, Ian St John.
The thoughts of everyone at Liverpool Football Club are with Ian’s family and friends at this sad and difficult time.
Rest in peace, Ian St John 1938-2021.
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) March 2, 2021
First-team Injury Update
Jürgen Klopp, for once, was able to give a mainly positive injury update regarding the first-team squad this week. Of course, the long-term concerns are no different with Virgil van Dijk, Joe Gomez, Joël Matip, and Jordan Henderson all out for the foreseeable future.
However, Diogo Jota, Fabinho, James Milner, Naby Keïta, and Alisson Becker are all back and available. In fact, Milner and Keïta came on as late subs in the 2-0 win at Sheffield United on Sunday. But this week, Klopp was asked about the availability of the trio of Jota, Fabinho, and Alisson. The manager said:
“Alisson and Fabinho, I’m pretty sure [will be available].
“With Diogo, he was with us in the hotel [before the Sheffield United game on Sunday], but he got sick overnight and we had to send him home. It depends how quick he will recover, obviously.
“He was in the squad and as I said before, he trained with the team and it all looked really good but unfortunately he got sick overnight. I think he will be available, but I don’t know.”
With Fabinho and Alisson back in the squad, and possibly Jota too, Liverpool will be in good shape to face Chelsea at Anfield on Thursday night. The Reds then face a home game with Fulham on Sunday followed by their last-sixteen second leg clash with RB Leipzig the following Wednesday.
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