Salah May Return Next Week, Klopp Says

Liverpool's forward Mohamed Salah. (AFP)
Liverpool's forward Mohamed Salah. (AFP)
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Salah May Return Next Week, Klopp Says

Liverpool's forward Mohamed Salah. (AFP)
Liverpool's forward Mohamed Salah. (AFP)

Liverpool winger Luis Diaz is fit while Darwin Nunez and Dominik Szoboszlai could also be back for their trip to Nottingham Forest on Saturday but forward Mohamed Salah will not return until at least next week, manager Juergen Klopp said.

Klopp has been wrestling with an injury crisis in recent weeks that has sidelined several key players and forced him to turn to the club's academy to plug the holes.

Diogo Jota, Trent Alexander-Arnold, goalkeeper Alisson, Curtis Jones, Salah, Nunez and Szoboszlai all missed last Sunday's League Cup final win over Chelsea along with a number of longer term absentees.

Diaz then sat out Wednesday's FA Cup win over Southampton, but is fine to face Forest - along with midfielder Alexis Mac Allister, who has been ill.

"(Diaz) is fine and Macca (Alexis Mac Allister) is fine," Klopp told reporters on Friday.

"Darwin and Dom trained yesterday with the team so we will see how they react," the Liverpool manager added, according to AFP.

Salah has not featured for the Premier League leaders since their visit to Brentford on Feb. 17 when he made a brief return after suffering an injury at the Africa Cup of Nations, but he could be in contention for next Sunday's game against title rivals Manchester City.

"I don't think Mo (Salah) is too far off. He will not feature tomorrow... I think next week, any point, it's possible."

Midfielder Wataru Endo and left back Andy Robertson also both missed the midweek win over Southampton but are set to train with the team on Friday. Mac Allister and Robertson were both briefly sick with the same illness, Klopp said.

Liverpool's youngsters have stepped up to the plate in the absence of the established starters with 18-year-olds Jayden Danns and Lewis Koumas scoring their first goals for the senior team in Wednesday's 3-0 FA Cup win over Championship side Southampton.

Klopp said it was his job to protect the youngsters from the spotlight.

"I know that they are not ready to it... it was wonderful, they deserve it, of course, the spotlight that night... but now it's about dealing with the challenges coming up," he said.

The manager said Liverpool were under pressure to win every match to stay ahead in the title race, a situation similar to 17th-placed Forest who are fighting to stay clear of the relegation zone.

"We are only one point above Man City and two above Arsenal but that means nothing," he said.

"Nottingham is a great place to play but a difficult one. The situation they are in is a similar one to us, they need to win games to reach their target as much as we can," he added.

Forest, with 24 points, are four points above the relegation zone.



China’s Huang and Sheng Win First Gold of Paris Games at Air Rifle Mixed Team Event

 China's Huang Yuting and Sheng Lihao pose on the podium after winning the gold of the shooting 10m air rifle mixed team during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at Chateauroux Shooting Centre on July 27, 2024. (AFP)
China's Huang Yuting and Sheng Lihao pose on the podium after winning the gold of the shooting 10m air rifle mixed team during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at Chateauroux Shooting Centre on July 27, 2024. (AFP)
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China’s Huang and Sheng Win First Gold of Paris Games at Air Rifle Mixed Team Event

 China's Huang Yuting and Sheng Lihao pose on the podium after winning the gold of the shooting 10m air rifle mixed team during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at Chateauroux Shooting Centre on July 27, 2024. (AFP)
China's Huang Yuting and Sheng Lihao pose on the podium after winning the gold of the shooting 10m air rifle mixed team during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at Chateauroux Shooting Centre on July 27, 2024. (AFP)

China's Huang Yuting and Sheng Lihao won the first gold medal of the Paris Games on Saturday in the 10 meters air rifle mixed team event.

Keum Ji-hyeon and Park Ha-jun of South Korea claimed silver and Alexandra Le and Islam Satpayev of Kazakhstan were awarded bronze.

Three years after Yang Qian and Yang Haoran won the gold in Tokyo, compatriots Huang and Sheng made sure China retained it.

The reigning world champions topped the qualifying round ahead of their Korean rivals at the Chateauroux Shooting Centre.

The gold medal round was not really a cakewalk though despite them racing to a 14-8 lead after the first 11 shots.

Keum and Park staged a late comeback to reduce the gap at 14-12 but the Chinese pair prevailed 16-12 in the end.

Le and Satpayev gave Kazakhstan their first medal of the Paris Games with a 17-5 romp against the German pair of Anna Janssen and Maximilian Ulbrich.