Daniel Sturridge injury: Crocked striker has now missed 47 games for Liverpool
Jürgen Klopp's first game in charge as Liverpool manager got a little harder after striker Daniel Sturridge was ruled out of the meeting with Tottenham Hotspur despite travelling to London.
The German said Sturridge's latest knock was "not too serious", yet it means he is without his four most senior forwards for his Premier League debut with Christian Benteke, Roberto Firmino and Danny Ings also injured.
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Sturridge has now missed 47 games for Liverpool since arriving at Anfield in January 2013, from seven separate injuries. Only Jon Flanagan has been unavailable for more games in the same period.
Liverpool player | Games missed since January 2013 |
Jon Flanagan | 60 |
Daniel Sturridge | 47 |
Jose Enrique | 47 |
Samed Yesil | 44 |
Joe Allen | 43 |
Liverpool's latest addition to the physio room takes their total absentees to eight, after Joe Gomez and Ings were both struck with anterior cruciate ligament injuries earlier in the week.
In the Premier League, only Newcastle currently have more players out injured with 13.
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Liverpool's American owners Fenway Sports Group (FSG) have repeatedly jetted their star striker to the USA for specialist treatment in a bid to end his persistent injury issues.
A hamstring injury forced Sturridge to miss Liverpool's first five Premier League games of the season, but he appeared in their three fixtures prior to the international break – scoring two goals and twice playing 90 minutes.
Last season was a particularly frustrating one for the England striker, as a hamstring problem kept him out from September until January before a hip injury required an operation which saw him miss the Reds' final seven games of the season.
Perhaps encouragingly for Liverpool fans, the knee injury which ruled him out of the Tottenham game is not a recurrence of a prior issue.
*Including 11 games for Chelsea in 2012/13 season.