Thursday saw four players rejoin Liverpool training, with Jurgen Klopp describing Diogo Jota as the “closest” to making his return to the squad.
Liverpool take on a new-look Everton on Monday night, with Sean Dyche taking his side to Anfield on the back of a 1-0 win over Arsenal.
It serves to be a big challenge for a squad desperately out of form, but they could be buoyed by the return of Jota.
The quartet of Jota, Virgil van Dijk, Roberto Firmino and Arthur were all part of the session on Thursday, and speaking in his pre-match press conference, Klopp gave an update on their fitness.
“The players are back in training, on different stages,” he explained.
“Diogo is the closest, he trains normal already for two days, so another three days’ training possible for him.
“I think he’s in contention for the squad [on Monday], I would say.
“Bobby, the next [closest]one, I don’t know. We have to see how that looks now, how he deals with the training intensity.
“Virgil, I don’t think he’s that close already, but we will work on that as well.
“Arthur, probably similar to Bobby, I would say. That’s that.”
As Klopp states, then, Jota could be expected to at least take a place on the bench for the Merseyside derby, with Firmino and Arthur the next closest to returning.
Liverpool appear to be taking a cautious approach to Van Dijk’s hamstring injury, with the Dutchman pictured in part-team and part-individual training on Thursday.
They have taken another new blow, too, with a hip flexor issue for Thiago which has meant he is “not able to train.”
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