Devastated Liverpool forward ruled out for the season with injury

Liverpool forward Rhian Brewster has been ruled out for the rest of the season with the high ankle injury that has kept him out for over a year.

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp gave a host of injury updates to the press today in his pre-match conference ahead of the Premier League clash with Crystal Palace. Amid lots of positive news there was the blow that Rhian Brewster is likely to miss the rest of the season.

The youngster was expected to return to full training – and first team squad contention – around Christmas so the delay in news had raised a few eyebrows. Klopp confirmed today that it is very unlikely he will be considered until the pre-season.

The German boss said he has been running and doing well but it is unlikely we will see him play this season. That is in contrast to the news around Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain who is close to his full return and who we will see in the Premier League title run-in.

Those were two contrasting reports on long-term injuries but there was also plenty of news about the short-term injuries in the squad. The most surprising part is that Trent Alexander-Arnold is not ruled out as previously reported and could even feature against Crystal Palace tomorrow.

Gini Wijnaldum is being assessed day-to-day and is considered “close” for tomorrow’s game. Dejan Lovren should be fit to face Leicester in the midweek Premier League fixture in 12 days time.

The news on Joe Gomez is less clear  – he is making good progress but they are not giving any clear indication about when he will return. However the expectation remains he should be back before the Champions League knockout stage kicks off in February.

You can watch the full Crystal Palace press conference here:

Overall a good injury report. At this time of year there will inevitably be players missing but the club are doing an incredible job at rotating and recovery.