Liverpool face mounting injury problems, with Joel Matip likely to be ruled out for the rest of the season with a thigh injury, Adam Lallana's sidelined for "a number of weeks" and Emre Can set to miss Wednesday's Champions League quarterfinal first leg vs. Manchester City.
Matip is set to undergo an operation to deal with the issue sustained during Saturday's 2-1 victory at Crystal Palace. The centre-half completed the full 90 minutes at Selhurst Park, but a subsequent medical assessment on his thigh revealed that surgery may be needed.
A statement on Liverpool's official website said: "Joel Matip is likely to require an operation on a thigh injury, Liverpool can confirm. The operation is likely to end the 26-year-old's involvement in the remainder of the 2017-18 season."
Liverpool face a shortage of centre-halves ahead of the Man City game: Ragnar Klavan will also miss the game, while Joe Gomez is expected to be out for up to a month with an ankle issue.
"Joel is out for the rest of the season, no doubt about that," said manager Jurgen Klopp. "It's very serious of course, not sure 100 percent why, he felt something but didn't think it was serious. It looks like it needs further assessment and maybe surgery but he should be back for preseason. That's the good news.
Meanwhile, Klopp revealed that Lallana will miss some time after coming off injured in Liverpool's 2-1 win at Crystal Palace on Saturday -- just five minutes after appearing as a second-half substitute -- but left open the possibility of the midfielder playing again this season.
The 29-year-old has only made one Premier League this season due to numerous injuries and recently hoped his fitness issues were behind him as he targeted a place in England's World Cup squad.
"Thank God, that's not as bad as we thought -- a number of weeks," Klopp told the club's website. "There is a little hope, of course, that we can maybe use him again this season, but we have to wait. It is absolutely not the time to bring any rush into the situation.
"It is not the Adam Lallana season so far. It makes the season so far even more special when you think that we have played the season without him. He will be back for preseason, of course."
And Can is a major doubt for the all-Premier League encounter at Anfield, due to a back injury.
"Emre will at least be very, very close for tomorrow," said Klopp. "He has a session today with the rehab coach but it doesn't look too good. Gomez and Klavan not involved, neither is Ben Woodburn. If there is a centre-half in the room, I'm open for talks!"