Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp today gave a general update on the fitness of The Reds’ squad ahead of Wednesday night’s UEFA Super Cup encounter with Chelsea in Istanbul.
There is still no further accurate reading on how long goalkeeper Alisson will be out for with the injury he sustained against Norwich on Friday night. Klopp has only mentioned that the Brazilian international will be unavailable ‘for the next few weeks’.
As it stands, Alisson and Nathaniel Clyne are the only first-team squad members who are currently out through injury.
Klopp spoke about Sadio Mané’s condition after the Senegalese forward only returned from his delayed summer break last week.
“I think he would have been ready to start on Friday, but after five days and having two players on the pitch with pretty much no pre-season up front you have to look a little bit at how you can do it.
“It’s not clear from the first second which three players you have to change, especially with them, which kills all your plans when the goalie leaves the pitch that early. So I think it was the right thing to do, but he’s for sure fresher now, fitter now, and yeah, he is ready.”
When asked if there were any other injury concerns (besides Alisson and Clyne) throughout the rest of the squad, Klopp said:
“Not really. No ‘injuries’ maybe, but little things after a game, which was an intense one. We have to see, we have time to sort that all.
“Wednesday is the game – it was Friday to Wednesday so that should be OK. But after that we need to think about the Southampton game, we come back on Thursday and two days later we play Southampton, so we cannot ignore that game as well.
“So we will see, but real injuries, no, little knocks, yes.”
It’s likely that Jurgen Klopp will take the opportunity to rotate some of the first-choice starting eleven against Chelsea to spread the minutes around the squad.
Join us tomorrow when we will be predicting the lineup for the Super Cup game.
For the most in-depth tactical and statistical analysis regarding Liverpool FC, sign up now! The original home of Pressing Stats, Anfield Index also brings you the latest views from club legends such as Jan Molby.
Hear from the UK’s top journalists, managers, professionals, sports scientists, physios and sports psychologists as we bring you the ultimate LFC fan experience provided on approximately 30 podcasts every month for our AI:Pro listeners!!
Enjoy all this and more for just £4.99 per month at Anfield Index Pro!!
