Jurgen Klopp reveals medical staff decision on Trent Alexander-Arnold and Diogo Jota

Jurgen Klopp has revealed that Trent Alexander-Arnold had “no chance” to be involved in Thursday evening’s defeat to Atalanta as a result of fitness concerns.

But the Liverpool boss is hopeful that Diogo Jota will have benefited from a brief cameo that could now put him in contention to return to the starting lineup.

Both players were named in the squad for the first time since February ahead of the Reds’ shock 3-0 defeat to Atalanta in the first leg of the sides’ Europa League quarter-final tie.

However, only Jota made it onto the pitch after seven weeks out, a fact Klopp put down to Alexander-Arnold having only got through two full training sessions this week.

He said: “There is no chance to play Trent. He was on the bench because we were allowed to put 23 players in the squad.

“He had two sessions, Diogo didn’t have more really but the information from the medical department said he was a step ahead, so he can play a little bit longer.

“I think Diogo was absolutely fine, 20 minutes, it helped him a lot and now we will see what we can do from there.”

Liverpool’s European hopes already look to be all but over after suffering such a heavy home defeat in the opening leg of the tie, but there remains a Premier League title challenge to focus on.

Asked about avoiding a hangover from midweek when Crystal Palace visit Anfield on Sunday, Klopp replied: “First and foremost, I cannot ensure that, never could. But still, it is the job I have to do.

“The good thing about a really bad performance is that you can play better. We should start from there.

“This I told the boys to ‘take it home’, nobody will sleep great and [Friday] we come together. The boys recover and all the others get a proper session. We go from there and on Saturday we start preparing for Palace.

“Yes, we have to show a reaction. Definitely, 100 percent, that is clear but I can not plan the reaction 20 minutes after the game.

“I will think about it, it is not the first time in my life that I lost a football game unfortunately. And yes, we will show a reaction, I can promise.”