Your Liverpool morning digest for Saturday, December 17.
Jurgen Klopp drops Virgil van Dijk and Liverpool team news hint before Man City clash
Jurgen Klopp is hopeful of having both Trent Alexander-Arnold and Jordan Henderson available for Thursday's trip to Manchester City.
But the Reds boss is less optimistic on Virgil van Dijk's chances of making the Carabao Cup game at the Etihad as Liverpool signed off from a near fortnight in Dubai with a 4-1 win over AC Milan at the Al Maktoum Stadium on Friday.
Henderson and Alexander-Arnold have been unofficially training in Dubai after joining up with their club colleagues earlier this week following their elimination from the World Cup with England against France on December 10.
Van Dijk, meanwhile, was knocked out the previous night when he captained the Netherlands to a 2-2 draw against Argentina before losing on penalties.
Klopp has afforded all of his World Cup contingent a week off after their respective exits in Qatar but he has hinted that both captain Henderson and Alexander-Arnold could feature in the fourth round of the competition Liverpool won for a record ninth time at the end of February.
"Yeah, there's a chance, of course – they train already," Klopp said after the Milan match on Friday. "Hendo is already training here. Virg is training here but I don't think we will try that. Hendo we will see, Trent we will see.
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Liverpool may just have found their unexpected Divock Origi replacement
In little over two weeks, a number of Liverpool’s soon-to-be out of contract stars will have entered the final six months of their deals and be left free to discuss terms with overseas clubs.
Plenty has been said about Roberto Firmino and Naby Keita ’s futures, with reports suggesting the Brazilian could be offered a new deal while the Guinean, following an injury-wrecked first half of the season, is facing a make or break six months if he wishes to stay at Anfield. Meanwhile, decisions regarding veterans James Milner and Adrian will perhaps again be left until the summer.
But it has just been assumed that Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain will be departing on a Bosman transfer come the end of the season when his own deal expires. In truth, anything else at this point would be a surprise.
The England international has been unlucky with serious injury during his six seasons at Anfield. While he might have won every major honour going with the Merseysiders, he has been limited to 137 appearances as a result.
And, like the likes of Adam Lallana before him, he has found the Liverpool side he returned to be a much more formidable prospect than the one he had previously been torn away from. That’s what signing the likes of Fabinho and Thiago Alcantara will do. In truth, the Reds have simply outgrown him.
One of the reasons for Oxlade-Chamberlain departing Arsenal for Anfield back in 2017 was his desire to be playing as a central-midfielder. Once up to speed with Klopp’s wants and desires, that role is where he thrived in his early days with Liverpool before that untimely ACL injury against Roma in the Champions League semi-finals.
Read the full story, here.
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