Liverpool suffered another injury blow as left back Kostas Tsimikas sustained a suspected broken collarbone in the 1-1 Premier League draw against Arsenal on Saturday.
The Greek defender fell awkwardly in the 35th minute after a strong challenge by Bukayo Saka and collided with Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp who was standing on the touchline.
While Klopp quickly got to his feet, Tsimikas was clearly in pain and walked off holding his arm gingerly to be replaced by Joe Gomez. Liverpool are already without first-choice left back Andy Robertson, also with a shoulder injury.
Jürgen Klopp confirmed Kostas Tsimikas suffered a collarbone injury during the 1-1 draw with Arsenal on Saturday evening.
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) December 23, 2023
"It was massively overshadowed by Kostas Tsimikas collarbone issue, definitely broken, so he is out for a long time," said Klopp whose side stayed second in the table behind Arsenal.
"The other issues we will have to see. It is hard for us to swallow with the Robbo (Andy Robertson) situation."
Talking to Sky Sports, Klopp added: "Of course it effected me. I had no pain but thought maybe Kostas was going to be fine.
"I would happily give my collarbone for him to be fit again. It is not cool when something like that happens in front of you and you are involved in that, I was not sure what even happened or if I fell on him. It is not nice to see."
Liverpool were second best against Arsenal early on as they trailed to a header by Gabriel.
But Mohammed Salah equalised before halftime with a stunning strike and while both sides could have collected all three points, a share of the spoils was just about right.
It left Arsenal top of the pile on 40 points with Liverpool and Aston Villa on 39 and Tottenham Hotspur on 36, two ahead of champions Manchester City who have a game in hand.
"Neither side gave up. Until the last second it was top intensity, everybody felt it, super intense. Tough game, good game, in moments spectacular," Klopp said.
"Absolutely, we take confidence from the result. You have to take confidence from these results and performances against a top, top side."