Confirmed: 25-man Liverpool squad in training – with Thiago, Nunez and Tsimikas

February 3, 2024
Jack Lusby

A 25-man Liverpool squad is expected to be ready for the trip to Arsenal on Sunday, with only five senior players absent from training in the buildup.

The Reds will travel to London on Saturday ahead of a huge clash in the Premier League the following day, as they aim to extend their lead at the top.

Jurgen Klopp spoke of a “luxury problem” in his pre-match press conference, as key players are returning from injury and those brought in to cover for them are in outstanding form.

It gives the manager tough decisions to make as he prepares his starting lineup, with a squad of 25 working at the AXA Training Centre on Friday.

That included Darwin Nunez (foot), Kostas Tsimikas (collarbone) and Thiago (hip), who all appear to have shaken off fitness problems to rejoin full training.

Nunez had been considered a doubt for the tie for a matter of hours, after an update in Klopp’s press conference, but the Uruguayan was able to train despite a blow in the midweek win over Chelsea.

Alexis Mac Allister is also fit having suffered a knock to the knee in the 4-1 victory, and could be expected to start at the Emirates.

It was a jovial atmosphere among the squad as they first worked in the gym before heading out to the training pitches, with Klopp’s staff running them through a series of drills.

Led by Pepijn Lijnders and head of fitness and conditioning Andreas Kornmayer, the squad were split up into groups of seven for rondos.

Nunez and Mac Allister worked with Diogo Jota, Andy Robertson, Luis Diaz, Dominik Szoboszlai and Trent Alexander-Arnold.

Tsimikas and Thiago joined Virgil van Dijk, Cody Gakpo, Ryan Gravenberch, Joe Gomez and Ibrahima Konate, while the third group consisted of Curtis Jones, Harvey Elliott, Jarell Quansah, Conor Bradley, Kaide Gordon, Bobby Clark and James McConnell.

Alisson, Caoimhin Kelleher, Adrian and youngster Fabian Mrozek worked separately with John Achterberg and his goalkeeping coaches.

Interestingly, Klopp watched on from the sidelines as he spoke with academy director Alex Inglethorpe, who will be tasked with overseeing a major transition this summer as not only does the manager leave, but also his youth liaison, Vitor Matos.

While it remains to be seen if Thiago or Tsimikas will be considered, the list of absentees is now limited to Mo Salah, Wataru Endo, Joel Matip, Stefan Bajcetic and Ben Doak.