Jurgen Klopp remains in the dark over which players can feature as Liverpool host Napoli on Tuesday, but has hinted that Ibrahima Konate could start.
The Reds take on the Group A leaders in midweek with both sides having already booked their place in the last 16 of the Champions League.
It would take a four-goal swing in order for Liverpool to finish top of the group above Napoli, and after the 2-1 defeat to Leeds at the weekend, hopes are certainly not high.
With only three days between the two games, and with little to play for, it has been suggested that Klopp could employ rotation to keep his key players fresh for the meeting with Tottenham on Sunday.
However, the manager insisted it was “not a game for massive rotation,” but when questioned about Konate’s chances of starting he did allude to one likely change.
“It’s very good that we have him back,” he said.
“He was ready for the squad [before] and now maybe it’s the moment where he can play.
“He trained yesterday completely normal, which is very helpful. He’s now had a full week, eight, nine days, where he could train each session.
“That’s obviously very good, so he’s for sure an option.”
Klopp only made one change to his side between victory over Ajax and the defeat to Leeds, with Thiago replacing Jordan Henderson, and there were tired legs all over the pitch at Anfield.
There are likely to be more alterations this time around, but Klopp has claimed he would not employ wholesale rotation as he targets a win.
“First and foremost it’s a pretty quick turnaround since we played against Leeds, so I’m not fully aware of the situation with the players who played against Leeds,” he continued.
“I still have to wait for that exactly. For sure we will not take risks.
“But if you watch football a little bit then you would probably know that Napoli is in incredible shape, plays incredible football, are top of the table in Italy, are maybe the form team in Europe at the moment.
“So this is not a game for massive rotation.
“It’s not about that we have to win 4-0 or whatever to go top of the group.
“We want to win the game, that’s clear, but the result is not really important.
“I have to make the lineup later today, maybe tomorrow morning, we will see, then we go from there.”
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