Liverpool will be able to welcome back Darwin Nunez for their weekend trip to Manchester City, but Jurgen Klopp's side will have to make do without Luis Diaz.
Colombia forward Diaz has been out injured since October and suffered a setback in his recovery, but was back in first-team training this week. There was some hope he might feature at the Etihad Stadium, but Klopp confirmed the game has come too soon for the ex-Porto man.
It's better news for Nunez, though. The Uruguay striker missed his country's friendlies against Japan and South Korea during the international break, but it fit to feature on Saturday.
"Luis back in small parts of team training after a long time out," Klopp said of Diaz. "[It's] fantastic to have him back but he won't train with us today. This week was a first step. Next week I think we will increase it and then he's ready.
"Darwin couldn't train for two or three days this week, but trained yesterday. He is back in contention," the manager added.
Liverpool's opponents also have an injury worry up front in the lead-up to the game. Erling Haaland was unavailable for both of Norway's Euro 2024 qualifiers, and faces a race against time to feature this weekend, with City boss Pep Guardiola saying he will "see how [Haaland] feels after the final pre-match training session.
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Liverpool have been dealt a separate blow with the revelation that a sickness bug swept through their squad in the lead-up to the game. There are also a number of other injury worries impacting their preparations for an important game.
"Naby [Keita] is out. He came back with a muscle injury from the national team. We will see how long it takes," Klopp said.
"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."
The Reds' manager described the City game as "super important" as his team looks to bounce back from defeat at Bournemouth in their most recent Premier League outing. It's one of two games in four days for Klopp's team, who travel to Chelsea on Tuesday.
"That's the one thing not different to all the other years," the former Borussia Dortmund boss said. "We know it's a massive game, a massive week coming up. For tomorrow they deserve all the attention - we can't think about the other games.
He also suggested he isn't too concerned about whether or not Haaland is available for the hosts, saying: "When you prepare a game, you prepare all things to avoid the final pass - which is where Erling really comes into the game. He is a proper striker, but they became champions without a striker. That's how it is, you never know 100 per cent who can play."
