Jurgen Klopp has provided full team news and an injury update ahead of Liverpool’s Premier League clash with Wolves at Anfield on Sunday night.
The Reds boss is struggling with a long list of injuries this season and was without a number of important players in the first team for the 1-0 victory over Ajax in the group stage of the Champions League on Tuesday evening.
Let’s start with the good news and Klopp confirmed this afternoon that Trent Alexander-Arnold and Naby Keita are back in full training today and that they could be up against Wolves again this weekend.
Alexander-Arnold went missing for a calf problem for the past month, while Keita recently struggled with a thigh problem, but the duo hope to get back into action on Sunday night.
However, Liverpool will still be without several players for Wolves’ visit as Klopp says none of his other absentees will be fit for the match, meaning goalkeeper Alisson Becker will stay out with a thigh injury that kept him out of Ajax’s match. . midweek.
James Milner is also on the sidelines with a thigh problem as Thiago Alcantara struggles to overcome a gnawing knee injury he sustained against Everton in October and Xherdan Shaqiri is out with a muscle problem.
Clearly, Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez won’t be playing anytime soon as they continue their rehab after surgery and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain isn’t ready to return – although Klopp says the midfielder is getting closer to full fitness.
The Reds boss told me Liverpoolfc.com:
‘I don’t know yet, we’ll see. Trent and Naby will take the first steps in team training today; what we can do with it depends on what it looks like.
“There are some problems after the match against Ajax and we have to see how they react. Until now, they haven’t done much, apart from treatments and things like that. We need to see how that develops [but] I don’t know at the moment.
“There is a chance that Naby and Trent could be in the selection, I would say. Or they can play, I don’t know. If they are in the selection, they can play, but whether they can start or play for 90 minutes, I know I don’t, I think there’s a chance they’ll be in the squad, yes.
“No one will come back except Naby and Trent, no.”
“Ox looks very promising, he does a lot of things. He’s now warming up with the team, some ball work, a lot of things, but we’ll develop that in the coming days.
“Then we’ll see when it makes sense to throw him in. It’s not too far away.”
Andy Robertson seemed to take a hit against Ajax, while Jordan Henderson played the full ninety minutes on his return to the starting eleven after a muscle injury, so Liverpool will no doubt judge the duo in the coming days.
Liverpool are kicking off the weekend action on points with Tottenham at the top of the table, so they will try to keep the pressure on their rivals with a win over Wolves on Sunday night.
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