Reds need slice of luck: Klopp

London, December 25

Liverpool will wrap Joe Gomez in cotton wool and pray the defender does not become yet another addition to the snowballing injury crisis at the Premier League club, manager Juergen Klopp said.

Liverpool’s Kostas Tsimikas sustained a broken collarbone in their 1-1 draw with Arsenal on Saturday, leaving the Merseyside outfit with few options at left-back, with first-choice defender Andy Robertson also sidelined due to a shoulder injury.

Gomez, who is right-footed, is likely to fill in at left-back until Robertson returns.

“It is for us obviously really tough, it’s really tough. You have injuries sometimes and we accept all of them, but a broken collarbone is really bad because it just takes (so) long,” Klopp told reporters ahead of tomorrow’s clash against Burnley at Turf Moor.

“Same what Robbo (Robertson) had, a different injury but that takes long as well, how we all know. We all know we need luck in these moments to get through and we will have Joey (Gomez) there and just have to make sure we put him in cotton wool and we have to make sure he is always ready for games,” he said. — Reuters

Super Cup game settled after 34 penalties

CAIRO: It took 34 penalty kicks before Modern Future finally beat Pyramids 14-13 in a nerve-shredding shootout in the Egyptian Super Cup semifinal on Monday after the contest had ended in a 0-0 draw. It was well short of the 54 penalties taken when Washington FC beat Bedlington Terriers 25-24 in a local cup match in England last year. A 2005 Namibian Cup match between KK Palace and Civics featured 48 penalties. reuters