Liverpool will be without Dejan Lovren, Kolo Toure and Philippe Coutinho for tonight’s FA Cup third-round match at fourth-tier Exeter City.
All three picked up injuries in the 1-0 win over Stoke City in the first leg of their Capital One Cup semi-final on Tuesday.
Croatia defender Lovren and Brazil playmaker Coutinho will also miss Premier League games against Arsenal and Manchester United, manager Juergen Klopp told a news conference yesterday.
“Phil’s is more serious than Dejan and Kolo but none of these players will be available tomorrow,” Klopp said.
“Kolo should be available next week, Dejan will be available after Manchester United. Phil needs one to two weeks longer.”
The German said he would be forced into fielding a makeshift side against Exeter.
“The team that plays tomorrow will want to win this game 100 per cent but it will be a team that hasn’t played together too often,” added Klopp.
“I don’t know who will be available. We will train in two hours and see who will play.”
Klopp also responded to Sunderland counterpart Sam Allardyce’s allegations that the high-intensity pressing strategy he has introduced at Anfield was responsible for the injury crisis.
“I’m glad for Sam, that such an experienced manager has time to think about Liverpool’s problems,” the German said.
“The problem is that, in this situation, we speak about the intensity of my style. I didn’t create this style, how could I? I’m not a genius.
“We try to be successful but you need a little bit of luck, we haven’t had this,” added Klopp.
FA Cup holders Arsenal, who have lifted the trophy a record 12 times, begin their bid tomorrow to become only the third club in history and the first in 130 years to win it three years running.
The Gunners, top of the Premier League, have not lost in the FA Cup since defeat by Blackburn in the fifth round in 2013 and they will seek to preserve that record against Sunderland at the Emirates.
Leicester City, second in the Premier League, face fourth-placed Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane and third-placed Manchester City go to top-flight rivals Norwich.
Arsenal have lost once to Sunderland in their last 22 meetings, an FA Cup fifth-round tie in 2012.
Allardyce said this week, however, that he will be forced to change his struggling team, accusing the Premier League of devaluing the FA Cup by scheduling league fixtures next week.
“Of course, I’m going to make changes for our Cup tie at Arsenal on Saturday,” Allardyce said.
“If you want us to respect the FA Cup, don’t put Premier League fixtures on in the midweek just after New Year.”
Spurs eye revenge
Spurs, eight-times FA Cup winners who beat Leicester in the 1961 final, will be eager to avenge a 2-1 fourth-round loss to the Foxes last year.
Manchester City face a tricky tie at erratic Norwich after losing 2-1 to Everton in the first leg of the League Cup semi-final on Wednesday.
Norwich are 15th in the Premier League but they have won three of their last four matches and nearly held City to a draw at the Etihad in October before the hosts sealed a late 2-1 win.
The other all-Premier League ties are Crystal Palace against Southampton, beaten in seven of their last nine matches, and Watford against Newcastle United.
One top-flight club pleased to switch their attention to the Cup will be Aston Villa, last season’s FA Cup runners-up, who have not won a league match since the opening day of the season and are bottom of the table.
Besides that win at Bourne-mouth, their only victory was in the League Cup against midlands rivals Birmingham City and they will be wary of an upset against fourth tier Wycombe Wanderers.
Everton face a potential fourth-tier banana skins when facing strugglers Dagenham & Redbridge at Goodison Park.
Premier League champions Chelsea, FA Cup winners four times since 2007, take on third-tier Scunthorpe United at Stamford Bridge.
Eleven-times winners Manchester United renew an old rivalry with third-tier Sheffield United at Old Trafford.
FA Cup, third round
Today: 20.55 Exeter vs Liverpool.
Tomorrow: 13.45 Wycombe vs Aston Villa. 16.00 Arsenal vs Sunderland; Birmingham vs Brentford; Bury vs Bradford; Colchester vs Charlton Athletic; Doncaster vs Stoke City; Eastleigh vs Bolton Wanderers; Everton vs Dagenham; Hartlepool vs Derby County; Huddersfield vs Reading; Hull City vs Brighton; Ipswich Town vs Portsmouth; Leeds United vs Rotherham; Middlesbrough vs Burnley; Newport vs Blackburn; Northampton vs MK Dons; Norwich vs Manchester City; Nottm Forest vs Queens Park Rangers; Peterborough vs Preston; Sheffield Wednesday vs Fulham; Southampton vs Crystal Palace; Watford vs Newcastle; West Brom vs Bristol City; West Ham vs Wolves. 18.30 Man. United vs Sheffield United.
Sunday: 13.00 Oxford vs Swansea. 15.00 Carlisle vs Yeovil; Chelsea vs Scunthorpe. 17.00 Tottenham Hotspur vs Leicester City; 19.00 Cardiff vs Shrewsbury.