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8 absentees confirmed for Liverpool vs Man Utd

The Premier League returns from the international break with the biggest game of the weekend kicking off the Premier League action tomorrow lunchtime as Liverpool play host to joint league leaders Manchester United at Anfield.

Ahead of the game, Jose Mourinho has been speaking at his pre-match press conference today and has given a team news and injury update.

The boss confirmed that Michael Carrick is unavailable for our trip to Anfield.  The 36-year-old is still yet to feature in the Premier League for us this season and his 90 minutes in the 4-1 EFL Cup win over Burton Albion is the only action our captain has seen in all competitions this season.  He missed the Crystal Palace game before the break with an injury that he has still not fully recovered from.

Carrick could have been expected to be part of tomorrow’s matchday squad due to injuries to both Paul Pogba and Marouane Fellaini.  Pogba remains out with a hamstring injury picked up a month ago whilst Fellaini suffered a knee injury whilst playing for Belgium over the weekend.

Nemanja Matic and Ander Herrera are expected to start in centre midfield with 20-year-old Scott McTominay potentially making the bench.

We will also be without Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Marcos Rojo on Saturday as both remain sidelined just like they have been all season.

Jose was able to give a positive update on Romelu Lukaku by confirming that our top scorer is fit to start tomorrow after making his return in Belgium’s 4-0 thrashing of Cyprus on Tuesday night.  The striker came off the bench to help himself to a fine solo goal in a 24-minute cameo appearance.  He had picked up a knock in our 4-0 win over Crystal Palace before the break and subsequently missed his country’s trip to Bosnia and Herzegovina last weekend.

The boss confirmed to MUTV today:

“Michael Carrick? I know he cannot play, I know that. Lukaku looks fine and that’s it.”

Hosts Liverpool have some injuries of their own.  The biggest news was confirmed at the start of the week with Sadio Mane suffering a hamstring injury whilst on international duty with Senegal.  The forward is expected to be out of action for up to six weeks.

Liverpool’s attack won’t be completely decimated as Jurgen Klopp is confident that Philippe Coutinho and Roberto Firmino will both be available tomorrow despite being in Brazil in the early hours of Wednesday morning our time.  Coutinho started the 3-0 thrashing of Chile.

Klopp said:

“We worked closely together with other clubs to bring the South American players home.

“Phil [Coutinho] played two games, Roberto [Firmino] played five minutes. They had a long flight but it was pretty comfortable. I saw the price! They should be okay.”

“Thank God we can still play football without Sadio. Lots of teams got injuries from this international break. It’s not only Sadio, it’s Fellaini and a lot of other players. It’s Sadio but nobody else, which is the good news. We can play without him.”

Nathaniel Clyne and Adam Lallana bring Liverpool’s injury count up to three.  The English duo are yet to play a single minute for the Merseyside club so far this season due to injuries.  They had been regulars in Klopp’s starting lineup when fit last season.