Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has confirmed that striker Darwin Nunez is in contention for tomorrow lunchtime's Premier League showdown with Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium.
The versatile forward, who has scored 14 goals this season following his arrival from Benfica last summer, was forced to pull out of the Uruguay squad ahead of the recent international break after suffering an ankle issue in Liverpool's 1-0 defeat to Real Madrid on March 15. It meant he missed Uruguay's 1-1 draw with Japan and 2-1 triumph over South Korea.
However, after reporting back to Liverpool's Melwood training base earlier this week, he has managed to step up his recovery. He trained on Thursday and is in line to face City for the fourth time this season.
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"Darwin couldn't train for two or three days this week, but trained yesterday [Thursday]," said Klopp, speaking at his pre-match press conference. "He is back in contention."
However, the Merseysiders will once again be without Colombian international Luis Diaz. The winger has been sidelined since October because of a serious knee problem and the trip to the Etihad Stadium will come too soon for him to make his long-awaited return, despite him making encouraging progress with his recovery.
Klopp continued: "Luis is back in small parts of team training after a long time out. It is fantastic to have him back but he will not train with us today [Friday].
"This week was a first step back into team training. Next week we will increase that. It looks really promising, we're in the final stages."
Addressing other fitness and illness-related issues within his squad, the Liverpool boss added: "Naby [Keita] is out. He came back with a muscle injury from the national team. We will see how long it takes.
"Thiago is in a good way, but is not part of team training yet. He will probably be part of next week's training. Rhys Williams has a little bit of something. We had stomach bugs here and there, but that stopped two days ago."
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