Jurgen Klopp believes Liverpool have navigated Dejan Lovren‘s persistent back and Achilles problems, with the centre-back now fully fit.
Lovren revealed recently that he was forced to take painkillers before every game to relieve pain in his “whole body,” as well as sitting out of training. A strange omission from the Croat.
The 28-year-old still departed on international duty with Croatia this month, however, and played the full 90 minutes in their 2-0 win over Ukraine on Monday night.
But ahead of Saturday’s clash with Man United, Klopp has insisted Lovren sitting out of Croatia’s first qualifier against Finland has allowed him time to recover.
“It’s true he had back problems, [and] they led to groin problems,” he told reporters.
“[But] if we would come out and tell everybody every time players have pain, you can imagine how often that would be.
“[Our medical staff are] always working with the players; sometimes it makes them available, sometimes not.
“He couldn’t train. That’s why he didn’t play the first game for Croatia. We told him and the Croatian FA it would really make sense to leave him out.
“He needed a few days’ rest, [and] at the moment it looks like it’s enough.
“He was always match fit, otherwise he would not have played.
“Everything looks fine, that’s it. It was no problem yesterday, no problem the day before; I don’t know how it will be in a few days, but at the moment it’s good.”
While Lovren has rightly come under criticism for his performances so far this season, his availability is undoubtedly a boost for Klopp, given his options at the back.
The ex-Southampton defender is likely to resume his partnership with Joel Matip at Anfield on Saturday.
And he will be hoping for an improvement on his display against Newcastle United last time out.
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