Jurgen Klopp has no fresh injury concerns on his hands as Liverpool get set to welcome FC Porto in the second leg of their Round of 16 tie on Tuesday.
Liverpool will be aiming to confirm their inevitable progression into the quarter-finals when they play hosts to FC Porto in the second leg of their Round of 16 tie at Anfield on Tuesday. And Jurgen Klopp will be buoyed by his squad becoming completely free of fitness problems, with no player on the treatment table.
Nathaniel Clyne has resumed full training as he continues to build up peak fitness, but Tuesday’s game will have come too soon for the English defender. In his absence, Joe Gomez is likely to get the nod to start at right-back, with Trent Alexander-Arnold getting a rest ahead of the weekend’s clash against Manchester United.
Apart from Gomez, Klopp is likely to make a few more rotations, with the likes of Simon Mignolet, Joel Matip, Ragnar Klavan and Alberto Moreno coming into the backline. The Liverpool boss though, said in his pre-match press conference that he will not completely change his side despite the clutch league game on the horizon.
“We could [rotate], but I’m not sure I will do it because it could be misunderstood. I really want to show respect. I want to show respect to the opponent, to the tournament, and I want to have the best line-up possible and the best line-up which makes sense to win the game, because that’s why we are here.”
The likes of Emre Can, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Mohamed Salah should, thus, be a part of the starting lineup, with Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane options on the bench, if need be. Two players who won’t be taking a part in the proceedings though, are Georginio Wijnaldum and Ben Woodburn, with the duo only recovering from their respective illnesses this week.
“Ben trained yesterday but he looked three kilos less, to be honest. Gini still hasn’t trained with the team. He had a little bit of an athletic programme, a little bit of running – not too much. They were really out for a few days. They are coming back but it will be too early for both of them.”
One player who looks likely to start, meanwhile, is Adam Lallana, with Klopp going on to state that the injury-stricken midfielder will be a key player in the run-in that could have several midweek games if Liverpool continue progressing in the Champions League.
“Adam had a serious injury, long-term. Then he was coming back and had two little setbacks; he was not too lucky in these situations. Now he is coming back and training good and getting more and more stable fitness levels. That’s good. We need Adam, 100 per cent, and we will use him for sure.”
