Jurgen Klopp says £43.7m star picked up a 'proper knock' v Arsenal but he could still start against Crystal Palace

Jurgen Klopp says Fabinho picked up a 'proper knock' against Arsenal but suggests there's nothing to worry about as he didn't hear anything more and that should be taken as a positive sign.

The Reds beat Arsenal 2-0 at the Emirates Stadium to book their place in the Carabao Cup final against Chelsea.

A brace of goals and assists from Diogo Jota and Trent Alexander-Arnold respectively saw off the Gunners and ensured the Reds have their first shot at a trophy in February next month.

Klopp says Fabinho picked up 'proper knock' against Arsenal

The Liverpool boss says Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is within a shout to start against Crystal Palace but says that Fabinho picked up a 'proper knock' due to the challenge that got Thomas Partey sent off.

The Ghanaian was shown a second yellow card for a challenge that could have seen him sent off even if he hadn't already been cautioned and it seems to have left the former AS Monaco midfielder with an injury.

“Ox, we hope he will play, he was running yesterday, but we don’t know what that means for today,” Klopp said after the 2-0 win over the Gunners.

“It would be helpful if he could train before the game. The rest, as far as I know were only knocks. We got knocks, proper knocks. A second yellow for Partey against Fabinho, that was a proper knock, but I didn’t hear anything, and most of the time, that’s positive.”

Fabinho is one player that cannot get injured right now

Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Naby Keita are already unavailable for Liverpool so I will exclude them but from the players available to Klopp at the moment, Fabinho is the most in-form.

He has 3 goals since the turn of the New Year and could have had an assist against Arsenal if Joel Matip had been onside when he turned home the Brazilian's header from a corner but it's his presence in the box where he shines most brightly.

When Gabriel Martinelli wriggled away from Virgil van Dijk on Thursday evening, his eyes lit up as he had the chance to fire the ball past Caiomhin Kelleher, who is set to start the final against Chelsea next month, but Fabinho came flying in to win the ball from behind the young Arsenal forward.

There were several instances where Fabinho, who joined the Reds for £43.7m in 2018, won the ball when it almost felt as though he had no right to and with a tricky game against Crystal Palace up next, Klopp will need his positional awareness and ability to read play to thwart the Eagles.