Klopp Provides Injury Updates on Firmino and Origi

Liverpool will again be without striker Roberto Firmino when Crystal Palace comes to Anfield tomorrow. The Brazilian, who injured his hamstring in Liverpool’s 1-1 draw with Chelsea, is likely still a few weeks away from returning to the lineup.

“No, not ready,” Jürgen Klopp said when asked about Firmino’s availability at his press conference today. “Bobby did not start training with the team, it will happen some point next week when he will be back training [with the team], and then we have to see.”

If he is only expected to return to training next week, Firmino will almost certainly miss Tuesday’s League Cup match against Norwich City and the Premier League trip to Brentford next Saturday.

The best-case scenario is likely a return for the Champions League tilt with FC Porto on September 28th. Though, with an international break coming up after the Manchester City match on October 3rd, it really wouldn’t be a surprise to see Firmino’s return delayed until mid-October.

Klopp also gave a quick update on Divock Origi’s status after he was substituted in the 63rd minute of LFC’s 3-2 win over AC Milan on Tuesday.

“He had cramp at the end of the game and so we have to see what that means for tomorrow,” Klopp said of the Belgian striker’s availability for Crystal Palace.

Though it doesn’t give much to go on, Klopp’s statement seems to point to Origi being a game-time decision. Fortunately, he was likely to only be a bench option behind Diogo Jota, Sadio Mané, and Mohamed Salah even if he were 100% by tomorrow. Still, it would be a shame if he were unable to suit up after the impressive performance against Milan.

While his start on Tuesday was unexpected, Origi was quite influential on the match despite being absent from the Reds’ lineup since last February. It was encouraging to see that Klopp might have another option for the front three while Firmino continues to recover from his injury.

The good news is he seems likely to be ready for the League Cup on Tuesday at the latest, which will provide another option for rotation at the front as Liverpool try to navigate a very busy September.