Liverpool will be looking to move clear at the top of the Premier League table with a win over Brighton at the Amex Stadium on Saturday lunchtime.
Ahead of the game, Jurgen Klopp has been speaking to the media at his pre-match press conference today and the Reds boss has provided a team news and injury update including the latest on the fitness of Jordan Henderson.
The midfielder has missed Liverpool’s last two games after picking up a knock during the international break earlier this month but he was able to resume training with the rest of the first team squad on Thursday.
Henderson’s return will come as a big boost to Klopp but the 30-year-old will still need to be assessed before his availability for the trip to the South Coast this weekend is determined.
Liverpool have a number of other injury concerns to worry about and Klopp says he’ll have to consult with his medical department and make a late decision to see who’ll be available for the Brighton game on Saturday lunchtime.
The Reds boss told Liverpoolfc.com:
“Hendo trained yesterday, parts of team training and then had his individual session, so we have to see what we do with that.
“For all the other players who played now [against Atalanta], they are still in recovery, so that’s how it is when you have only these few days in between.
“We have to make late decisions, so if you were to ask me now what will be the line-up and I was in a mood to tell you, I couldn’t!
“I [will] make this decision as late as possible because I have to wait until the medical department tells me who looks like [they’re] ready.
“Then it looks like from now on we have another 25-and-a-half hours to make sure that we bring the fittest and freshest players on the pitch.”
Thiago Alcantara missed the defeat to Atalanta on Wednesday night as he continues to work his way back to full fitness from a knee injury while Naby Keita also sat out the Champions League game with a thigh problem.
Xherdan Shaqiri was another absentee in midweek while Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is still working on his match fitness following a lengthy spell on the sidelines so the quartet will all need to be assessed today.
Trent Alexander-Arnold is expected to miss the Brighton game tomorrow due to an on-going calf issue while Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez are long-term absentees so Klopp could be without an many as 8 players if the likes of Henderson, Thiago and Keita fail to prove their fitness.
Liverpool head to the Amex Stadium sitting level on points with Tottenham at the top of the Premier League table so they’ll want to put some daylight between themselves and their rivals with a win over Brighton on Saturday.
