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Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has provided an injury update on Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Caoimhin Kelleher ahead of the FA Community Shield match against Manchester City.
The Reds face the Cityzens in the season's curtain-raiser at the King Power Stadium in Leicester on July 30. However, they head into the game without a handful of their key senior players.
Klopp looks poised to start Adrian San Miguel in goal as he revealed that it could take Kelleher two to three weeks to recover from his latest injury. Alisson Becker and Diogo Jota have already been ruled out due to injuries.
Speaking at a press conference before the game against City (h/t Liverpoolfc.com), Klopp said:
“Yeah, Caoimh felt something after the international game and everybody, the medical department there, told him it’s fine and will be good after holiday."
He continued:
“He came back and first training [session] felt it again. We checked it and it was not good so I think Caoimh will be another two, three weeks and then he should be fine."
The German also shed light on the nature of Oxlade-Chamberlain's injury. The English midfielder was forced off with a hamstring injury in the club's 2-0 win against Crystal Palace in pre-season a fortnight ago.
“With Oxlade it will take longer. It’s a serious hamstring injury and it will take longer. But it’s a hamstring, and we all hate this word, we hate the injury but anyway it happens from time to time and now Ox was the one.”
Liverpool to play another friendly fixture next month
Klopp recently mentioned that Liverpool will play one more friendly fixture next month to cope with the 2022/23 season's packed schedule.
Liverpool have faced Manchester United, Crystal Palace, RB Leipzig, and RB Salzburg in the pre-season so far. They are set to face Pep Guardiola's side in the Community Shield on July 30, followed by a friendly against Strasbourg on Monday, August 1.
Speaking to reporters on July 28, Klopp confirmed that the Reds will extend their pre-season by adding another match against a yet-to-be-named opponent (h/t ESPN). He said:
"We played last night against Salzburg, we lost 1-0. We trained the day before twice, so pretty intense... I cannot ignore the fact that after this important game there is a season coming up. So we have to extend our preseason into the season."
The former Borussia Dortmund boss might want to hand more pre-season minutes to the younger players and those on the fringes of first-team action. The Reds are expected to play a strong team in the Community Shield against City. The German proclaimed:
"From mid-August on, I think we play every three days, so there is no time for training any more. So we try to do the right things and the schedule is always a challenge, that's how it is."
Liverpool will start their Premier League campaign against Fulham on August 6 at Craven Cottage in London.
