Jurgen Klopp makes his feelings clear as Liverpool's Keita vindication derailed

Naby Keita was finally starting to come into his own at Liverpool until another injury has derailed his progress.

The midfielder arrived from RB Leipzig in 2018 for £50million with expectations high after an impressive stint in Germany.

But he has struggled to settle at Anfield and replicate the form he showed on a consistent basis in the Bundesliga.

At the beginning of his time on Merseyside, that could be attributed to the adjustment to the Premier League, but as time wore on, his confidence took a hit.

Injuries haven't helped his cause, however, as he's not had that sustained run in the team to really show what he is made of.

Until recently, that is.

Naby Keita was starting to show some form for Liverpool ( Image:

Pool via REUTERS)

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Keita has started the season like a player reborn and has filled the void left by Georginio Wijnaldum who left as a free agent to join Paris Saint-Germain in the summer.

He has shown an eye for goal this past month with an unbelievable volley against Crystal Palace, before producing an almost identical finish against Atletico Madrid in the Champions League.

Keita then carried that form into last weekend, getting the ball rolling at Old Trafford in Liverpool's emphatic win over Manchester United with a smart finish past David de Gea.

But Liverpool fans were holding their breath as he was stretchered off following a horror tackle by Paul Pogba.

The injury wasn't as bad as first feared, however, and the former RB Leipzig man recovered in time to be included in the line-up against Brighton.

That was short-lived, however, as he suffered a fresh problem as he went to ground clutching his right leg and was forced off after 20 minutes during the 2-2 draw.

It's a devastating blow for Liverpool and Keita as he was finally living up to his billing and it seemed the club's decision to spend north of £50million to sign him was looking as if it was going to be vindicated if he continued on that upward trajectory.

Naby Keita picks up an injury against Brighton ( Image:

Liverpool FC via Getty Images)

Klopp was shaking his head on the touchline as he went down injured which summed it up perfectly - he just can't catch a break.

To make matters worse, it comes at a time when the Reds are in desperate need of Keita with their injury crisis in midfield as Fabinho, Thiago and James Milner are all out injured.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain replaced Keita against the Seagulls and made an instant impact as he set up Sadio Mane to make it 2-0, before Liverpool let their two-goal lead slip.

Klopp all but ruled Keita out for the visit of Diego Simeone's men midweek, but it remains to be seen how long he will be on the sidelines.

Jurgen Klopp reacts to Liverpool's injury ( Image:

PETER POWELL/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)

He said: "If somebody feels the hamstring, it would be the first time that he is ready for the next game. So, I can't see that."

Klopp also revealed Oxlade-Chamberlain is poised to start against the La Liga champions in Keita's place.

He added: "We changed system second half at a specific point. We couldn't defend the width anymore, obviously we tried to fix that with changing to a 4-4-2, that was with Oxlade going to the left wing and Sadio to the right.

"Apart from that, he set up the second goal, Sadio's goal, with a nice cross and that's it. And then he was part of the bunch playing more or less 'yes or no'.

"They all can play better football like Ox can play better football, but anyhow it's good. He played 70 minutes round about and that's good for him.

"He had 90 during the week and today 70, so now let's see how he can recover and what we can do with that on Wednesday."