Jurgen Klopp says Jordan Henderson injury will sideline him for three weeks, discusses letter to Man United fan and previews West Ham game
Jurgen Klopp has revealed that Liverpool skipper Jordan Henderson is likely to be sidelined for around three weeks with a hamstring injury.
The midfielder sustained the problem in the closing stages of Tuesday's 1-0 Champions League defeat to Atletico Madrid.
And while news of the injury is a blow to the Reds' treble trophy pursuit, Klopp said he was looking on the bright side of things.
"It could have been worse," he said. "We know there are a lot of different hamstring injuries in the Premier League at the moment, with Harry Kane and so on, but it's not that bad.
"He will be out for about three weeks, which is not cool. But how we see it, we were still lucky."
Tuesday night was a rare defeat for Liverpool this season, only their third in all competitions and effectively the second for the first team given it was the under-23 side who were knocked out of the Carabao Cup.
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And Klopp suggested there could be a reaction when they face West Ham on Monday night.
"We have to put it right to get the other feeling back," he said.
"I don't think we lost how it feels when we won a few games, but now we lost the difference is massive, it's much more than three points.
"It's really from sunshine to hardest rain. That's how it should be. If you really want to be successful, what we could have been in that game, it has to feel really bad and that's how it felt.
"So yes, we want to put it right even though it's a different competition."
Klopp discussed plenty of other things in his pre-match press conference ahead of Monday's clash against West Ham, including why he felt compelled to reply to the young Man United fan who wrote to him asking if he could stop Liverpool winning all the time.
On West Ham...
"With all the brilliance which we know about Man City, the first goal was a set-piece.
"And the second goal was a super situation from Kevin De Bruyne obviously.
"But, at the end, it was a little bit scrappy with Bernardo Silva and he takes the ball over and it's kind of a one-two in the box.
"Super goal, but not outplayed like you would expect when City is on the pitch.
"They fought really hard, they defended the box with all they had. They didn't have a lot of possession obviously, so I wouldn't expect that they go for much more possession against us. But they will defend again with all they have.
"I didn't hear exactly what David [Moyes] said after the game, but I think they took some positives out of that game and they will try it again. We have to be ready for that.
"It's Monday night, we need a really good atmosphere again and not kind of this perception that you go there and think, 'OK, 1-0 after seven minutes, 2-0 after 25 and then it's easy-going'. It will not be like this.
"West Ham needs to fight for results and they will fight for results. They have tough games coming up for them as well, so they don't have time to waste results, points or whatever. I expect a really, really tough match, 100 per cent."
Xherdan Shaqiri return date?
“Not close to team training yet,” explained Jürgen Klopp when asked for an update on Shaqiri on Friday.
“We never did, but this time for sure we cannot, put any time pressure on it because it is obviously a difficult one.
";It was never a big one but always big enough to keep him out for another two or three weeks. So, we just wait. He is not close to team training.”
Klopp on Georginio Wijnaldum future...
"We have nothing to say. We talk about it when something is decided, not before."
Jurgen Klopp on Man United fan letter...
"It wasn't me feeling sympathetic - I had time, but I can't answer all letters I get in a day - I get a lot.
"But it was nice, it was cheeky. I had time that day so I read the letter and replied.";