Liverpool midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai has disclosed his desire to participate in Sunday’s Carabao Cup final triumph against Chelsea, but he was deemed unfit by the club’s medical team.
Having grappled with a hamstring injury that sidelined him for a significant portion of the last two months, Szoboszlai, now on the brink of returning to action, narrowly missed being declared fit for the final at Wembley.
The 23-year-old, who joined in the post-game celebrations after Virgil van Dijk’s extra-time winner, expressed his frustration at being unable to contribute on the field. In a conversation with Hungarian media, Szoboszlai said, “They [the medical team] are careful with me. If it would be up to me, I would play. I hate it. I hate not playing. I had a lot of disagreements with the doctors.”
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During the pre-match press conference, Liverpool assistant manager Pep Lijnders acknowledged that decisions regarding Szoboszlai, Mohamed Salah, and Darwin Nunez, who also missed the final, would be made at the last possible moment.
“We come in a crazy schedule again, so we play every three days. It’s important for us to use each minute, use each day to really look how the players are. This is for Mo, Dom, and Darwin,” Lijnders explained. “Two training sessions to go, let’s see how they are, and then we can make a decision in the last minute.”
In the aftermath of the match, Jurgen Klopp reiterated that Szoboszlai was not fit to participate. However, he expressed surprise at the level of involvement Szoboszlai and Nunez had in the post-match celebrations, prompting him to discuss the matter with the medical department.