Liverpool Midfield Pair Ruled Out of Cardiff Clash With Fabinho in Contention to Start
Liverpool midfielders Jordan Henderson and Naby Keita have both been ruled out of Saturday's Premier League clash with Cardiff at Anfield as a result of hamstring injuries, potentially opening the door for summer signing Fabinho to finally make his full Premier League debut.
Henderson was withdrawn at half time of the 1-0 victory over Huddersfield last weekend and was left out of the squad for the midweek Champions League clash with Red Star Belgrade.
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Keita, meanwhile, suffered his problem on international duty during an Africa Cup of Nations qualifier between Guinea and Rwanda in Kigali.
Manager Jurgen Klopp confirmed that neither is ready to return when he addressed the media at a press conference early on Friday afternoon.
"[Keita and Henderson] will not work out for tomorrow, for sure not. Both are in a good way but will not be ready for then," he said, via Liverpoolfc.com.
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"I think that's it pretty much. The rest - apart from Ox and Rhian [Brewster] - should be available."
Klopp now must decide whether Fabinho should stay in the team after making only his second Liverpool start in the 4-0 win over Red Star and impressing in a deep lying destructor role. Georginio Wijnaldum also started in central midfield, while James Milner was left on the bench.
Cardiff are coming off the back of their first win of the season after beating Fulham last week.
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Neil Warnock's Bluebirds are 17th in the Premier League table and have the second worst defensive record of all 20 teams, but Klopp refuses to take the game lightly and insists that the visitors possess plenty of 'quality' and 'deserve all our respect'.
Liverpool have the added bonus of being the Premier League club who have amassed the most points on Halloween weekend - the last weekend in October - since the current era began in 1992.
