Liverpool tense as Klopp reveals bad news despite winning over Forest, points now equal to two Premier League rivals.
On 23 Feb 2026 GMT+7, Jürgen Klopp, Liverpool's manager, spoke after last night's English Premier League game, where Liverpool narrowly defeated Nottingham Forest 1-0 with a winning goal by Alexis Mac Allister in the 90+7 minute.
After this match, Liverpool increased their total to 45 points. Although they remain 6th in the Premier League standings, they have caught up in points with Manchester United and Chelsea, two key rivals competing for UEFA Champions League qualification.
However, Liverpool faced bad news before the match when Klopp included German international midfielder Florian Wirtz in the starting eleven, but Wirtz suffered a back injury during the pre-game warm-up.
As a result, Klopp had to replace Wirtz with Curtis Jones at the last minute and plans to continue assessing Wirtz's condition.
Klopp described Wirtz's condition: "We believe the injury isn't severe, but he had significant back pain during the warm-up before kickoff. He couldn't perform at 100 percent, or even close to it."
"I think after being in this league for six, seven, or eight months, he understands that no matter how skilled you are, you have to play at 100 percent at this level."
"So we decided not to play him, and we hope he can return to the team next week. But of course, we can't know for certain what will happen."
