Liverpool monitoring Jota fitness but Firmino out for EFL Cup final clash

Liverpool will monitor the fitness of Diogo Jota ahead of their EFL Cup final against Chelsea on Sunday, but Reds assistant manager Pep Ljinders confirmed Roberto Firmino is out of contention.

Jota and Firmino suffered knocks against Inter in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 clash on February 16, and subsequently missed Premier League wins over Norwich City and Leeds United.

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp conceded that the pair were both doubts for the final before the Leeds’ game, in which fellow attackers Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane netted two goals each.

Ljinders provided another update on the duo on Friday as he offered faint hope that Jota could play some part against Thomas Tuchel’s men.

“Bobby [Firmino] we will have to see in the next two days, he’s pushing himself really hard, but he will not be available for the final, to reach the squad,” Ljinders said.
 
“We hope he will be back really soon because you all see and feel how important he is for our way of playing. [We are] happy that he’s pushing himself, hopefully he’s soon back.
 
“Jota, there has been so far no reaction on the things he did – the straight-line running, the little ball work he did, so that’s a good sign. He isn’t ruled out but it will still be a challenge.”

We will continue to assess the fitness of Diogo Jota ahead of Sunday’s Carabao Cup final, but Roberto Firmino will not feature at Wembley.

— Liverpool FC (@LFC) February 25, 2022

The Reds will be hoping Jota can beat the clock to feature, given he could become only the second ever Liverpool player to score in each of the quarter-final, semi-final and final of the competition in a single season (replays included), after Kenny Dalglish in 1980-81.

Nevertheless, Klopp’s side will be left in capable hands even without Jota, with new boy Luis Diaz, Salah and Mane to call upon in the frontline.

Mane has scored eight goals against Chelsea in all competitions, only netting more in his career in England against Crystal Palace (13), while Salah leads the Premier League scoring charts with 19 this term.

The Senegal international, however, is yet to score an EFL Cup goal for the Reds in three previous appearances for them in the competition, the most recent of which was against Chelsea in the 2018-19 third round.