Naby Keita injury unlikely to be serious
By Tom Gott
Naby Keita is believed to have avoided serious injury following a nasty challenge from Manchester United's Paul Pogba, and was able to celebrate Liverpool's 5-0 win after suffering only a 'bruise'.
The Guinea midfielder, who scored the game's opening goal early on, was caught by a reckless challenge from Pogba shortly after the hour mark, with both players forced to leave the field - Pogba because of a red card, Keita on a stretcher.
Given Keita's lengthy injury history at Anfield - he's missed 54 games in three years - there were obvious concerns about the 26-year-old's wellbeing, but The Athletic state that things are not nearly as bad as first feared.
Pogba's tackle did not hit Keita's weight-bearing foot and instead simply spun him off balance, and while the sight of the midfielder on a stretcher was a little scary, it was more of a precaution and Keita was on his feet in the dressing room.
He joined in the celebrations after the full-time whistle, rising to his feet in the dressing room to party with his team-mates after the historic victory.
As an added bonus, Keita even managed to walk away from the ground unaided and did not need crutches to walk, suggesting any injury he might have picked up is not going to keep him sidelined for too long.
Speaking ahead of Wednesday night's Carabao Cup clash with Preston, Liverpool assistant Pep Lijnders seemed to confirm that Keita had got away without much damage, describing the knock as 'just a bruise'.
Lijnders on Keita: Naby, I think we should speak about VAR. It's a major advantage to protect players. We sometimes discuss and whine about ref and VAR, but that's why it's there. To protect players. Luckily Naby foot was not on ground and it was just a bruise.
— Ian Doyle (@IanDoyleSport) October 26, 2021
That news will come as a huge boost to Jurgen Klopp, who lost young midfielder Harvey Elliott to a potentially season-ending ankle injury earlier in the campaign.
The past week has summed up Keita's Liverpool career perfectly. He did well in the 5-0 thumping of Watford before dropping an absolute stinker against Atletico Madrid, gifting the Spaniards two goals while simultaneously firing home an absolute screamer of his own in a frantic 45-minute cameo.
Klopp gave Keita the chance to bounce back from that with another start against United, and he needed just five minutes to make his presence known as he slotted home from close range to open the scoring.
Keita was involved in nearly everything positive from Liverpool at Old Trafford, and fortunately, his abrupt departure from the game shouldn't have too much of an impact on his form.