Liverpool will be without Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah for Tuesday's trip to Southampton, but Jurgen Klopp says there is "no doubt" they will be back for the Champions League final.
Salah suffered a groin injury in Saturday's FA Cup final win over Chelsea while Van Dijk withdrew due to a knee problem, sparking fears Liverpool could be without two of their most key players for the final stages of the season as they chase an historic quadruple.
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Saturday's penalties victory over Chelsea at Wembley secured trophy number two for Klopp's side this season, and their title chances received a boost on Sunday as Premier League leaders Manchester City drew 2-2 at West Ham, giving Liverpool the chance to close the gap to one point with a win over Southampton.
But the Reds will have to make do without Salah and Van Dijk at St Mary's in their penultimate game of the Premier League season, with Klopp unwilling to take any risks ahead of a pivotal few weeks.
Klopp said: "Will they be involved tomorrow? No. Virg definitely not. But that was pretty much clear before the game.
"They are both OK, so the target would be that they could both be involved on the weekend, properly involved, from the bench [for] a couple minutes or start.
"I don't know we will see [about] that, because that would be perfect for the game.
"But if not then we will take each day afterwards. There is no doubt about the [Champions League] final, pretty realistic about the Wolves game. But tomorrow, rather not."
Klopp rules Liverpool out of Mbappe 'battle'
Paris Saint-Germain forward Kylian Mbappe announced over the weekend that he has made a decision over where he will play football next season, with his contract expiring at the end of the season.
A report in France over the weekend suggested Liverpool were the third club involved in the race to agree terms with Mbappe, along with PSG and Real Madrid.
Klopp was glowing in his praise of Mbappe, but made it clear that Liverpool are unable to compete with the wages being offered to the 23-year-old.
"Of course we are interested in Kylian Mbappe, we are not blind!" said Klopp.
Pressed on whether there had been contact with Mbappe's camp, Klopp added: "I have nothing to say about that. We obviously like him, and if you don't obviously you have to question yourself.
"But no, we cannot be part of these battles. There must be other clubs involved but that's fine. He is still a great player."
Opta stats: Southampton vs Liverpool
- Liverpool's Mohamed Salah has been involved in 10 goals in nine Premier League games against Southampton (7 goals, 3 assists), averaging a goal or assist every 79 minutes against them.
- Liverpool have scored a league-high 15 headed Premier League goals this season, while only Leicester have conceded more headers than Southampton this term.
- Liverpool have conceded the first goal in their last two Premier League games, coming back to draw 1-1 with Tottenham and beat Aston Villa 2-1. They last conceded first in three consecutive games while avoiding defeat each time back in October/November 2019, during their title winning campaign.
- Southampton have won just one of their last 10 Premier League games (D2 L7), with their 1-0 victory against Arsenal last month also their only clean sheet in this run.
- Southampton's 3-0 loss at Brentford last time out means they've now conceded at least 60 goals in each of their last four Premier League campaigns - they'd only conceded 60+ in four of their previous 16 38-game seasons in the competition.
- Liverpool have won seven of their eight midweek (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday) Premier League games this season (L1). However, one of their two defeats overall in the competition this term came on a Tuesday (0-1 v Leicester).
- Southampton have lost their final home league game in three of the last five seasons (W1 D1), going down 2-0 against Leeds last season. Saints had only lost their final such home game in three of the previous 30 campaigns.
- Southampton's eight home Premier League wins over Liverpool have been won by eight different managers (Branfoot, Ball, Strachan, Sturrock, Redknapp, Pochettino, Koeman & Hasenhüttl). The last Saints manager to win consecutive home league games against Liverpool was Chris Nicholl, in 1989-90 and 1990-91.
- Liverpool have won eight of their last nine league games against Southampton, netting at least twice in each victory. However, the exception was a 1-0 defeat in this exact fixture last season.
- Southampton won this exact fixture 1-0 last season, with Saints last winning consecutive home league games against Liverpool between March 2004 and March 2013 (three in a row).