Liverpool poised for quadruple injury boost as Andy Robertson return game given

Assistant manager Pep Lijnders has provided a Liverpool injury update ahead of tomorrow's Carabao Cup semi-final second leg against Fulham.

The Reds take a 2-1 aggregate lead into the Craven Cottage showdown, although there's still plenty of work to do if they're to book their spot at Wembley.

Dominik Szoboszlai has missed the past three games for Liverpool because of a hamstring injury. He won't be back for Fulham but is set to return for Sunday's FA Cup fourth-round tie against Norwich.

Trent Alexander-Arnold suffered a knee injury in the 2-0 victory over Arsenal in the FA Cup third round earlier this month. The vice-captain will also miss Fulham but is set to be back for the Norwich tie.

Lijnders said: "Dom trained yesterday with us, just one small-sided game, one-touch game, but played good, felt good, did some extra work with the sports science team. He is ready but tomorrow comes too early for him, so he will be ready for the weekend if nothing goes wrong.

"Trent is progressing well through his rehab, working hard – how he is as a guy, knowing how important the next weeks are. But he will back in the end of the week for team training, so hopefully he will be available for the FA Cup."

Andy Robertson hasn't played for Liverpool since sustained a shoulder injury duty on Scotland duty in October that required surgery. He is set to travel to Fulham in what is a key boost. Lijnders told the club's website: "He trained yesterday with the team. It's now 13 weeks, he had his meeting with the surgeon to make sure that everything is right to go into full contact – it's clear. So he did a lot of work and really good rehab throughout the last period, so he's fit in terms of sports science. Now he has to get fit with proper team training.

"So that's a big, big advantage to have him back. We were waiting for a long time – he's one of our captains. I just met him in the canteen and he said, 'Pep, I have my tracksuit with me!' So he's pushing himself into the squad, so that's good. He will travel [to Fulham]."

In more good news, Curtis Jones is fine after coming off in the closing stages of the 4-0 Premier League win over Bournemouth and is fine.

Kostas Tsimikas has been absent for the past month after breaking his collarbone in a 1-1 draw against Arsenal in the Premier League.

Meanwhile, it has been nine months since Thiago Alcantara last made an appearance for the Reds. He's struggled with a hip issue that he had surgery for in April 2023.

Stefan Bajcetic has been struggling with growing pains, with the 19-year-old being limited to two outings this term.

Joel Matip is sidelined with a long-term knee injury. The defender ruptured his ACL in the 4-3 Premier League win over Fulham at the start of December.

Mo Salah has returned to Liverpool from the African Cup of Nations to have treatment for a hamstring injury he picked up in a 2-2 draw against Ghana last week. Wataru Endo remains on Japan duty at the Asian Cup.