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| Christian Benteke scored his third Premier League goal of the season against Southampton |
Benteke was sent to hospital for a scan on Monday after reporting a problem in the aftermath of Sunday's draw with Southampton and has had to pull out of Wednesday's Capital One Cup tie with Bournemouth.
His participation in Saturday's showdown with Chelsea will also now be in doubt and the situation represents another blow for new manager Klopp, who is now left with youngster Divock Origi as his only fit recognised forward.
Daniel Sturridge is still absent with a knee problem and Danny Ings likely to miss the rest of the season after suffering an anterior cruciate knee ligament injury.
Klopp has drawn his first three matches in charge but had been buoyed by Benteke's scoring cameo against Southampton in which the Belgium forward conjured a towering header after coming on as a substitute. He is the club's leading scorer with three goals.
Benteke finished the game, but subsequently informed Liverpool's medical team of soreness sustained in a challenge with Victor Wanyama.
Liverpool think the ligaments may only have been tweaked, but will not take any risks with the £32.5m forward given the dearth of options at Klopp's disposal.
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| Daniel Sturridge has also been unable to stay fit, leaving Liverpool devoid of class strikers |
Benteke only made his comeback against Rubin Kazan last Thursday after missing five games with a hamstring injury and the onus now falls back on Origi to lead the line.
An alternative would be Roberto Firmino, while 19-year-old Jerome Sinclair is likely to come back under consideration with Klopp indicating he will play a "mixture" of youth and experience in the fourth-round tie at Anfield.
The likelihood of Sturridge being back to face former club Chelsea also appears slim, although surgery to cure a problem related to fluid on the knee has been ruled out.
"He can walk, he can swim, but that's not going to help him playing football," said Klopp. "There is fluid in the knee. Not too much, that's why we can say it's not serious and we don't have to think about surgery, or things like this, but he needs time.
"He's been out for four games with this one, so 10 to 12 days. Then when he's back in training he needs to train, it is not possible to come back and then play the next day.
"I know about his history with injuries of course but I have no experience of this with him. That's another thing I have to learn for sure."
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