Arne Slott has confirmed that Ibrahima Konate and Connor Bradley will miss Liverpool's match with Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday.
The Premier League leaders have been without Konate for their last three Premier League matches – winning just one of those matches and drawing the other two – with Bradley also missing the same period due to a hamstring injury.
Konate's knee problem has seen Joe Gomez and Jarel Quansah given minutes alongside Virgil van Dijk at centre-back, while Trent Alexander-Arnold's recovery from an injury of his own has thankfully coincided with Bradley's injury.
There was hope that the two players would at least be able to return LiverpoolThe tour team for their weekend trip to D.C., but Slott told his recent press conference that neither is ready to return to work.
The Dutchman said: “These are the two players who are still in the red zone, so they are not training with us at the moment. They are on their way back but have not trained with the team yet.”
“That's what I said before, very difficult,” he continued when asked about possible timelines for a return. “We thought, I think, that (Diogo) Jota would have come back really early and sometimes the final phase of rehabilitation takes a little longer.
“Sometimes they join (training) and then they say, ‘I'm not quite ready to start yet.’ So, let's wait and see, but we've got a very good rehab staff here and they've done some really good work with Alisson (Baker) and a few others.
“The main thing is that if they come back, they are ready to come back and we should not focus on one, two or three days. It is important in the long term that they stay fit after that.
“So far they have done really well and we hope the same will happen with Conor and Ibo.”
One positive for Liverpool is that Andy Robertson is available to play Although he was sent off against Fulham in the end On Saturday, a 2-2 draw At Anfield. The Scot was sent off for a professional foul on Harry Wilson, but served a one-match ban in midweek, with a straight red card applied in all domestic competitions.