Liverpool midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai has reportedly been ruled out of the EFL Cup final against Chelsea later this month with a recurrence of a hamstring injury.
The £60m summer signing from RB Leipzig has been a regular in Jurgen Klopp's side this season, but injury has affected the start of his 2024 so far.
An injury picked early shortly after their win over Newcastle United on New Year's Day kept the Hungary captain out for most of January, before he returned off the bench with an assist over Norwich City in the FA Cup.
Szoboszlai then started in their comfortable 4-1 thrashing of Chelsea in the Premier League, playing over an hour and scoring their third goal of the evening.
However, the 23-year-old then missed their crunch encounter against Arsenal on Sunday after feeling pain in his thigh ahead of the clash.
Hungarian outlet Index claims that Szoboszlai will miss roughly another four weeks to recover from the setback, ruling him out of the EFL Cup final to come on February 25.
Speaking to the press ahead of the Arsenal game, Klopp confirmed: "Doma felt pain in the same, or at least very close, part of his thigh as where his injury was before.
"During the match [against Chelsea] he was fine, but afterwards he felt a bit, so we looked at him and unfortunately it became clear to us that he has no chance to play in today's match.
"We cannot take any risk. We have to wait for further assessment but it was clear that he cannot be involved today. That's it, pretty much."
Despite almost a month out during January, Szoboszlai missed just four matches, as the winter break and seamless passage into the FA Cup fourth round handed Liverpool a lighter schedule.
However, February and beyond is set to be a much busier period for the Reds, with five games to come in the final three weeks of this month.
Klopp's side will also return to Europa League action in early March, and a favourable FA Cup draw against lower-league opposition could also see them go far in that competition.
If the initial prognosis is correct though, then Szoboszlai should return in time for Liverpool's huge clash with title rivals Manchester City on March 10.
Liverpool are next in action when relegation-threatened Burnley come to Anfield in the Premier League on Saturday. body check tags ::
