Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has received both an injury lift and blow this week, following Saturday’s 1-0 victory at home to West Ham United.
Thiago Alcantara, Joel Matip and Roberto Firmino all took part in Sunday’s session at Melwood, with the first two expected to be involved in the matchday squad for tonight’s Champions League round of 16 second leg clash against Inter Milan – with the Reds leading 2-0 on aggregate before kick-off.
That said, the German manager is still sweating over one of those players. Unfortunately, he believes that the game may have come just a little too soon for Brazilian forward Firmino though, who suffered a muscle injury in the reverse fixture a few weeks ago.
“I think all trained yesterday fully. I’m not sure yet what we make of that exactly, to be honest, because we have to see how they react,” Klopp said yesterday.
“So, Thiago was only a week out, probably will be fine but we have to wait for it. Joel was only three or four days I think, so he is fine, I would say.
“With Bobby [Firmino], it was longer out, it was [his] first session, so we have to see if we have to stress that or if it makes probably sense to give him just a few more days with proper training.
“Because we obviously don’t train properly today, it’s a minus-one session, it’s tactical stuff, not high intensity and Bobby might need something else. We will see that. But they are all in training.”
The potential return to the starting line-up for both Thiago and Matip will be huge for the team, as their vast experience compared to other options that Klopp could select instead will be crucial in helping the team see through the victory against the current Italian Serie A champions.
This season, 30-year-old Thiago has started just ten Premier League games, due to fitness reasons and the competition for places at the club, but has still managed to average a solid 7.05 match rating according to SofaScore, as well as contributing one assist and one goal for his club.
Meanwhile, Cameroon international Matip has been a mainstay at the heart of defence alongside Virgil Van Dijk, keeping out exciting young prospect Ibrahima Konate when fit, and averaging an impressive 7.28 match rating in the Premier League.
Sadly, Firmino’s absence, if he does miss the tie, will be a big one. Although Diogo Jota has scored 17 times this term but has only just returned from his own injury absence and may not entirely be up to speed yet. Thus, the opportunity of handing him a mid-week rest would have been an appealing one for the club’s boss.
The Brazil international is a man for the big occasion too, having scored three in four Champions League matches this season, and not having him available will be something that Klopp will no doubt be concerned about this evening. He needs to hope that Jota performs and indeed, stays fit.
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