Liverpool head coach Jurgen Klopp has confirmed defender Joel Matip is set to miss three weeks with a groin injury.
Matip went down with the injury in the club's 1-1 draw against West Brom on Sunday, furthering Liverpool's problems in defence.
Already without centre-back duo Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez with long-term injuries, Matip's absence will stretch Liverpool further during a busy period of fixtures.
Nat Phillips and Fabinho started in defence for Liverpool on Wednesday as the club drew Newcastle 0-0 at St James' Park. In his post-game press conference, Klopp confirmed the extent of Matip's injury.
"The normal situation with this kind of injury is around about three weeks," Klopp said of the Cameroon defender.
Klopp however was encouraged by his side's injury situation as midfielder Thiago Alcantara made his first appearance in more than two months and the Reds suffered no new injury concerns.
"Thiago is a super player," Klopp said. "From the 20 minutes he played, 12 were brilliant and then he felt the intensity, which is normal. He trained only twice around the team, so there is still some physical work to do, still some rhythm to get.
"The best news is that the boys are back, and as far as I know in the moment, nobody got injured tonight which is very important. Probably, we can go with the same squad to Southampton."
Liverpool had several clear-cut chances against the Magpies, but were unable to find a way past goalkeeper Karl Darlow. Despite failing to pick up all three points, Klopp said he was happy with the way his side performed on the evening.
"Everybody knows if we win 1-0 then everybody is over the moon, and we should have won the game at least 1-0," Klopp added. "We didn’t, and we have to accept that, but I can work with this performance, I can work with the things we saw tonight. We can build on that, we don’t have to change in the next three or four days as if everything is going wrong."
Liverpool return to action on Monday when they face Southampton at St Mary's.
