Joel Matip. Dejan Lovren and Fabinho also absent for both matches
Tuesday 24 December 2019 12:05, UK
Jurgen Klopp has confirmed Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain will miss Liverpool's final two games of 2019 due to an ankle ligament injury.
The Liverpool midfielder landed awkwardly 72 minutes into Liverpool's Club World Cup final clash against Flamengo on Saturday.
Oxlade-Chamberlain will miss Liverpool's trip to Leicester on Boxing Day as well as the Sky Live visit of Wolves three days later, and Klopp is unsure when the England international will be ready to return to action.
"With Oxlade-Chamberlain - the ankle is what we expected," Klopp said.
"You have three ligaments on the outside the ankle and one of them is damaged. We have to see how quickly we can fix that.
"I don't know [how long that will take] exactly, I had the injury myself, but that was years ago.
"It can take a while or it can be quicker we have to see but no chance for Thursday, and this year Oxlade-Chamberlain will not play anymore that is clear. We have to see how quick it can settle. That's it."
Klopp added: "Matip, Lovren and Fabinho are in a really good way but are not ready for these games."
Despite being constrained by a protective boot for his injured right ankle, Oxlade-Chamberlain was an enthusiastic part of Liverpool's on-pitch celebrations after their maiden FIFA Club World Cup success on Saturday.
But though they can now legitimately lay claim to being the best team in the world, Klopp dismissed the notion Liverpool could now be viewed by rival teams as an ever bigger scalp.
"I'm not sure if we can become a bigger scalp. I think the scalp we are is big enough since I am here at least - and probably it was always like this," he said.
"There will be no difference [in terms of how we are viewed by other sides]. You cannot add in a meeting the achievements of the other team.
"It's just positive that we did it. We went there to achieve something special. We did that and it felt brilliant.
"We went home had a proper sleep and now we are here to play Leicester and not to act as the Club World Cup winners."
This season's Premier League top scorer, Jamie Vardy, has an impressive record against Liverpool with seven goals in 10 appearances.
Klopp hailed the striker as 'exceptional' but says he is acutely aware of the all-round threat posed by the high-flying Foxes, who are 10 points behind Liverpool and second in the league.
"We will try [and stop Vardy]. The only problem is that it is not only Jamie," Klopp said.
"He is a massive threat, obviously. He's an exceptional striker. Since I have been in England, he has been one of the top three probably.
"He's always scoring. He is difficult to defend against, always on the shoulder, running at your back, playing with the off-side line.
"He is really, really dangerous. The only thing we can do is try to avoid as many passes as we can to him, and that's what we will try and do.
"But Leicester is not only Jamie Vardy, Brendan (Rodgers) has done an excellent job there and they are a proper top-class team. In this situation people still speak about them like 'oh how did they get there?'
"But the quality they have is exceptional, plus the manager makes it a really good mix. So we are aware of that but a part of that we will prepare as we always do."
