Klopp Offers Crucial Update On Jota's Return After Liverpool's 1-0 Loss To Brighton

Jurgen Klopp gave an update on Diogo Jota after Liverpool suffered their second consecutive loss at Anfield in the Premier League on Wednesday.

Liverpool's title defense was majorly hit following their 1-0 loss to Brighton. After remaining unbeaten for 68 matches at Anfield, Klopp's side now has lost two matches in a row at their fortress. With 40 points in 22 matches, Liverpool sit in fourth place in the league table, seven points behind leaders Manchester City, who still have a game in hand.

Apart from the center-back duo of Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez, Liverpool have also been without their summer signing Jota. After making a $55 million move from Wolves to Liverpool ahead of the 2020-21 season, Jota had made an explosive start to his Reds career, scoring nine goals in 17 competitive matches. He suffered a knee injury playing in the Champions League dead rubber at Midtjylland on Dec. 9 and has not played since then.

When Jota was pictured stepping up his recovery this week, it looked like Liverpool would have him in the side soon. However, in a post-match press conference Wednesday, Klopp revealed that the Portuguese forward could take another three to four weeks to return to action.

"Diogo is – I don't know exactly – a couple of weeks, two, three, four. I'm not sure," Liverpool's official website quoted Klopp as saying about Jota, who has scored five goals in nine league games.

Liverpool were also without their key striker Sadio Mane, defensive midfielder Fabinho and first-choice goalkeeper Alisson Becker for the Brighton game. The Senegal national has missed the Reds' last two matches with a muscle issue. While Liverpool managed to win in his absence at West Ham last Sunday, the defending champions majorly missed Mane as they succumbed 1-0 to Brighton at home.

"[With] Sadio we will see. He might be available for the weekend, I don't know. He didn't train with the team today. We will see," added Klopp in the press conference.

While Fabinho was nursing a muscle problem, Alisson fell ill on the morning of the game. The Brazil duo is expected to return for the crucial home fixture against Manchester City on Sunday.

The 1-0 defeat to Brighton was Liverpool's fourth loss in the league this season but Klopp had no complaints, suggesting his players were "mentally fatigued" after recording away wins against Tottenham and West Ham in the past week.

"It's long ago we looked like this — fatigued, mentally fatigued. And that leads to not the best legs as well. It was a tough week and today we were not fresh enough, which means then not good enough to break the formation of Brighton," Klopp explained.

In the coming 10 days, Liverpool have two crucial league games scheduled before their Round of 16 Champions League clash with RB Leipzig on Feb. 17.