Liverpool will hand late fitness tests to Alisson Becker, Thiago Alcantara and Joel Matip ahead of their Premier League clash with Sheffield United on Saturday night.
Alisson has missed Liverpool’s last five games in all competitions after suffering a shoulder injury in training but the Brazilian has made excellent progress in his recovery having recently returned to training.
Thiago was forced to miss the Champions League victory over Ajax in midweek after picking up a knee problem during Liverpool’s controversial Merseyside Derby draw with Everton at Goodison Park last weekend.
Matip also missed the trip to Amsterdam on Wednesday night after suffering a minor knock against the Toffees last weekend having only recently returned to action following a muscle issue.
The centre-back will be assessed along with Alisson and Thiago at Liverpool’s Melwood training base but Klopp suggests the trio will be in contention to face Sheffield United ‘until somebody tells me different’.
However, the Reds boss will obviously be without Virgil van Dijk as the Dutchman is facing a lengthy spell on the sidelines with a knee injury while Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Kostas Tsimikas will also miss the visit of the Blades tomorrow night.
Jürgen Klopp told Liverpoolfc.com:
“So, let me say it like this with the others, apart from Ox and Virg, obviously, and maybe Kostas, who gets closer and closer but is not at all in contention for this game or the next one.
“All the others, we have to see day by day pretty much. It’s a lot of conversations with the medical department – for who it makes sense, for who it is too early and all these kinds of things.
“So, I don’t know in this moment who will be available. My last information was that the boys who played the other night, they are all fine. They are OK and the rest, we will see.”
“I don’t know [if Thiago, Alisson and Matip will be available]. We have training after the press conference, so we will see who is out there. You can only be in contention if you are in training.
“Look, in my situation, I don’t want to rule anybody out until someone tells me and so far, nobody told me. Maybe I should have listened better!
“But for me, everybody apart from the three I mentioned are in contention until somebody tells me different.”
It would be a huge boost for Liverpool if Alisson and Thiago are back tomorrow night as they are key players for the champions while Matip’s return would also be well-timed considering van Dijk’s absence.
Klopp provided an update on the centre-back and says no fixed timeframe will be put on his return as van Dijk undergoes surgery to repair an ACL injury that he sustained following a challenge from Jordan Pickford.
When asked when van Dijk will have his surgery, Klopp told Liverpoolfc.com:
“I can understand people are interested in that. Virgil was here, he’s OK. But about when the surgery will happen and stuff like this, I don’t think it makes sense that we give pretty much a time schedule every day.
“But it will be fine and will happen in an appropriate time. So, that’s it pretty much – he is as good as possible. We don’t even want to know it, to be honest. It will take time, that’s clear.
“In the end, it’s really like this: all people are different and so we should not limit that by saying ‘for him it was that long, for him it was that long’.
“I think it makes sense from a specific moment in the recovery, in the rehab time, that it becomes individual because then everybody copes differently with it and each body. That’s why [there is] no need for [a timeframe].”
Liverpool head into the weekend sitting third in the Premier League table after taking 10 points from their opening five games but Klopp will be hoping to get back to winning ways following the frustrating draw at Everton.
