Knee injury will keep Lallana out of Liverpool’s Premier League opener

Suffering a lateral collateral ligament injury during Friday training, Liverpool attacking midfielder Adam Lallana will miss the start of the Premier League season, according to the club. Though no recovery timetable has been announced, surgery has been ruled out, though the former Southampton star could be facing a six-week layoff.
Per England’s Press Association, that’s the recovery time for this level of LCL injury, a period that could sideline him for the first three games of the Premier League season. Though Lallana’s recovery could beat that timetable, Liverpool expects him to miss his former club’s visit to Anfield.
From Liverpool’s website:

Liverpool have today confirmed Adam Lallana has suffered a knee injury in training and is set to miss the start of the new season.
The midfielder, who moved to Anfield from Southampton earlier this month, sustained a knock to his lateral collateral ligament during a session at the Reds’ Harvard University training base in Boston.
Lallana has been assessed by Liverpool’s medical staff and does not require surgery.

Lallana moved from Southampton to Liverpool at the beginning of the month, part of an exodus from St. Marys that’s also cost Saints head coach Mauricio Pochettino, forward Ricky Lambert and left back Luke Shaw. Defender Dejan Lovren is also expected to leave the clubs, with midfielder Morgan Schneiderlin also the subject of transfer rumors. A much-changed Southampton team will take the field at Anfield.
Lallana, part of that exodus, will witness that new team from the stands, an absence that could prove a nuisance, particularly for a team trying to replace its best player. With Luis Suárez no longer on the Reds’ books, manager Brendan Rodgers must revamp his attack, and while Lambert has been brought in to do so (with French international Loïc Remy potentially on the way), Lallana’s $42.8 million capture was the team’s biggest offseason move.
Coming off a nine-goal, six-assist season, Lallana is destined to have an impact on Liverpool, but thanks to today’s injury, that impact will not happen until after the season starts. If the normal LCL recovery time holds up, Lallana may not make debut until September.