The centre-back has not travelled with the rest of the squad to their training camp in Spain.
The pressure for title race is on. What was a 7 point lead at top of the table in January as reduced to three points. With City ahead of them on goal difference and a match played more, the pressure on Liverpool is more. The injuries to defender played a catalyst in downfall of Liverpool’s performance. It seems the injuries could jeopardize their Champions League ambition as well. It seems this Liverpool defender is set to miss the Bayern Munich clash due to hamstring injury.
Dejan Lovren is a doubt for Liverpool’s Champions League clash with Bayern Munich. The Reds face the German club at Anfield on Tuesday, February 19 in the last-16 of the competition. And after picking up a hamstring injury against Wolves on January 7 and Lovren has yet to fully recover. The Reds have headed to Spain for a four-day break, with Klopp initially naming Lovren as part of his 31-man group on the trip alongside the likes of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Rhian Brewster.
But while that pair have joined the squad in the Costa del Sol, the Croatian centre-back did not make the plane, instead remaining on Merseyside with Joe Gomez. Lovren has sat out of the last five games with a hamstring problem aggravated in the 2-1 defeat to Wolves in the FA Cup on January 7, only making the substitutes’ bench once in that period.
Klopp told Liverpoolfc.com, “Dejan is not here and Joe [Gomez] is not here. That’s never a good sign, I would say, but we will try everything to make Dejan available for Munich. It will be a tight race. For him, it makes sense
Author’s Take:
This would suggest it is very doubtful Lovren will be back to start against Bayern in the first leg at Anfield, leaving Klopp with few senior options at centre-back. Van Djik is suspended for the clash after picking up three bookings, Joe Gomez is still injured. Joel Matip is only fit defender. Fabinho might be used to pair up with Matip.
