Liverpool suffer pre-Leicester blow as £20m star ruled out of Newcastle & Man United run-in

Liverpool’s Premier League trip to relegation-threatened Leicester City tonight (kick-off 8pm) is set to pique interest on Tyneside.

Following Newcastle United’s 2-2 draw at Leeds United on Saturday afternoon, fifth-place Liverpool can move within one point of the top four with a victory at the King Power Stadium.

Both the Magpies and Manchester United are tied on 66 points, and both have a game in hand - but neither want Jurgen Klopp’s Reds on their tail ahead of the remaining three games of the campaign.

Given Liverpool are on a six-game winning streak compared to 19th-place Leicester, who sit two points from safety, the former is heavily tipped to win. On-watching Newcastle fans, however, are hoping the Foxes can buck the trend.

While Leicester are without the likes of Kelechi Iheanacho, James Justin and Ryan Bertrand, Klopp won’t have Roberto Firmino available with the game frustratingly coming just too soon for the Brazilian forward.

“No, he is not in team training yet,” Klopp said. “Bobby was in training yesterday (Thursday) and he looks nearly there, but not for the weekend. I feel now if he is in the session today I would be surprised, but he starts training, team-wise, after the Leicester game.”

Elsewhere, the Reds recently learned the news of Thiago Alcantara’s season-ending injury. The midfielder won’t play any part in the Champions League qualification run-in following hip surgery. Naby Keita will also miss the game alongside Stefan Bajcetic and Calvin Ramsay.

Should Liverpool lose to Leicester, Eddie Howe’s side can mathematically seal a top-four finish by beating Brighton and Hove Albion in their game in hand on Thursday.

Although it wouldn’t be mathematically confirmed, a draw for the Reds tonight and a win for United versus Brighton would clinch it on a goal difference.

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