EPL
5
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp believes further checks will be needed on James Milner’s injury after the midfielder was forced off early on in the second-half against Napoli in the Champions League.
Milner was involved in a clash of heads in the first-half and received medical treatment on the pitch but eventually carried on playing.
Advertisement
After going down off the ball within the opening minute of the second-half, the 36-year-old pointed to his head to signal to the bench he was unable to continue.
“Don’t know (what his situation is),” Klopp said after his 400th game in charge of Liverpool, which his side won 2-0. “He seems to be fine now but we have to probably do further checks.”
The manager was impressed in particular with the impact of Darwin Nunez, who helped Liverpool win the match after coming on in the 73rd minute. Nunez scored with the last kick of the game, having earlier helped set up Mohamed Salah’s opener after his header was parried by Alex Meret into the path of the Egyptian.
“Absolutely good,” Klopp said about Nunez.
“In these games for us it was not a game for massive rotation, because of the situation, but a little bit we had to and that is why we didn’t start all three (of Nunez, Salah and Roberto Firmino).
“We had to see how we got through the game and I thought Curtis (Jones) did really well in an unfamiliar position for him (on the left wing). He did really well and was involved in the game and then when you can bring on a fresh player with the quality of Darwin is very helpful. I’m really happy about that.”
GO DEEPER
Picking the best of Jurgen Klopp’s 400 games in charge of Liverpool
(Photo: Getty Images)
Subscribe to The Athletic for in-depth coverage of your favorite players, teams, leagues and clubs. Try a week on us.
Caoimhe O’Neill is a Staff Writer for The Athletic covering Liverpool. Before joining The Athletic she worked as a Senior Football Writer at the Liverpool Echo. She’s a graduate of the University of Liverpool. Follow Caoimhe on Twitter @CaoimheSport
