Liverpool's Salah sidelined for League Cup final against Chelsea

Liverpool were without Mohamed Salah for Sunday's League Cup final against Chelsea after the Egypt star was unable to recover from injury in time for the Wembley showdown.

Salah missed Liverpool's win against Luton in the Premier League on Wednesday due to discomfort the forward felt after last weekend's victory at Brentford.

The 31-year-old, who had been out for a month with a hamstring injury sustained at the Africa Cup of Nations, had scored in his comeback as a substitute against Brentford.

Salah was one of a host of Liverpool stars absent from the final due to injury.

Reds boss Jurgen Klopp was also without Trent Alexander-Arnold, Alisson Becker, Darwin Nunez, Diogo Jota, Joel Matip and Dominik Szoboszlai.

That meant starts for 20-year-olds Conor Bradley and Harvey Elliott, while six of Klopp's substitutes were 21 or younger.

Elliott, Cody Gakpo and Luis Diaz formed Liverpool's attacking trio.

Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino named the same starting line-up that drew 1-1 at Premier League champions Manchester City last weekend.

The Blues last won the League Cup in 2015, while Liverpool's most recent success in the competition came at Chelsea’s expense in 2022.