Jurgen Klopp has provided a fitness update on Dejan Lovren, Daniel Sturridge and Georginio Wijnaldum ahead of Liverpool’s clash with Leicester.
The Reds travel to the East Midlands on Monday evening to take on the managerless Foxes, after the Premier League champions dismissed Claudio Ranieri on Thursday night.
After securing a 2-0 victory at home to Tottenham Hotspur last time out, Liverpool should be in confident form, boosted by a mid-season training camp in La Manga.
But they could be without a pair of key players in Lovren (knee) and Sturridge (illness), as Klopp explained at his press conference on Friday afternoon.
“Daniel tried [in La Manga] but we had to send him home because he had a virus infection. He’ll probably will come in today, first time. A few days.
“Dejan Lovren could not join us, he was running today. It was possible, felt good.
“He could do a few more steps in the right direction [before Leicester]. For all the rest it was good.”
Klopp later elaborated further on Lovren’s knee injury, with the centre-back visiting a specialist in Germany during the break to assess his options—with positive results.
“If it would be completely simple, it would not have taken this long a time,” he added.
“Before the Chelsea game he struggled a bit, but then warming up it was getting better. He played really well, then after the game the pain was too big for him.
“We gave him a little rest and in the end we couldn’t find the 100 percent cure.
“We sent him to a specialist and the specialist found a few things that were not direct. They sorted these things.
“Five minutes ago I spoke to him, he felt really well running around. He’ll be very close for the Leicester game, but having him back in training is, of course, good for us.”
Wijnaldum was arguably Liverpool’s best player against Spurs, producing a balanced display in the middle of the park, setting up Sadio Mane for the winger’s opener.
Klopp was asked his view on Wijnaldum’s performance at Anfield, and went on to reveal a minor calf injury picked up during the break.
“It was a good game from him, but to do it again, it’s not that simple. We need him again on this level,” he explained.
“[He had] little problems in training this week, a little knock on his calf. Yesterday he could run, today he probably could train.”
The 49-year-old is clearly still hopeful of being able to call upon both Lovren and Wijnaldum on Monday night at least, though they will remain doubts in the buildup.
Sturridge is more likely to miss out, and could join Adam Bogdan (ACL), Marko Grujic (hamstring), Ovie Ejaria (ankle) and Danny Ings (knee) on the sidelines.
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