After being forced to miss out on the second leg of Liverpool’s Europa League Round of 16 clash with Manchester United last night, Reds fullback Alberto Moreno could make a swift return to the starting eleven when they square off with Southampton at St. Mary’s Stadium on Sunday, but that all depends on the results of the scan on his hamstring.
“I don’t know yet because we had to wait as long as possible to make the scan because a scan in the first moment gives you [only] a little sight and we did it after training at Old Trafford,” Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp said in his pre-match press conference. “We saw nothing in the scan and it was good but Alberto is a player who really ignores pain and he felt a little bit when he tested it so we could not take the risk.”
Hamstring problems have been the German’s bane since taking over the Anfield outfit back in October, but the spate of injuries he was initially faced with has tapered off somewhat — though Moreno’s remains a massive concern. James Milner slotted in for the defender in the draw with the Red Devils on Thursday with Jon Flanagan, who just put pen to paper on a new deal, left out of the Europa League squad. The 23-year old could be in a line for a return to the starting eleven should his Spanish counter-part miss out, but the Reds boss isn’t going to make that call right now.
“Today, I don’t know when exactly, he will have another scan and it’ll be much more clear if there’s something or not,” explained the German. “If there’s nothing, maybe we try it for Sunday, but I don’t know exactly.”
