Liverpool's Pep Lijnders tests positive for covid-19

Liverpool assistant manager Pep Lijnders has been tested positive for covid-19, meaning he will now have to isolate according to UK government guidelines.

Liverpool's trip to Arsenal on Thursday night in the EFL Cup is looking in huge doubt at the moment with the Reds formally submitting a request to the EFL to postpone the game if possible, after another swathe of positive cases, including Lijnders - as per the Daily Mail.

Indeed, that submission was made on Tuesday evening and an announcement on whether the match will go ahead is due today, with the Reds' match with Shrewsbury Town at the weekend in the FA Cup also potentially now under threat.

The players to have tested positive most recently are as yet unknown and the Reds have also shut their Kirkby training base to try and limit the spread further, with Jurgen Klopp already in isolation having tested positive himself at the end of last week.

Anfield Watch Verdict

It seems pretty unlikely that this game will go ahead on Thursday night now, but it would certainly be interesting to see who would take charge of the Reds if the EFL said it did have to go ahead.

Joel Matip, Alisson and Roberto Firmino were already ruled out as they have been in isolation since before the Chelsea game, and now it seems another raft of players have been affected.

That, combined with injuries to the likes of Thiago, Divock Origi and Takumi Minamino, as well as AFCON call-ups, makes our task of even fielding a competitive side very difficult at the moment.