Liverpool will be boosted by the returns of Darwin Nunez and Ibrahima Konate against Ajax, though Thiago Alcantara remains sidelined for Wednesday’s Champions League clash.
Headline summer signing Nunez missed Saturday’s shock Premier League defeat at lowly Nottingham Forest due to suffering a hamstring compaint that forced his withdrawal following a first Anfield goal against West Ham last week.
Meanwhile, centre-back Konate returned from a two-month lay-off with a knee injury in the 3-2 defeat at Arsenal earlier this month and made his first start of the season in the Champions League demolition of Rangers at Ibrox, but has been out since with a muscle issue.
While Nunez should be fit to start against Ajax in tomorrow’s Group A encounter in Amsterdam as Liverpool look to qualify for the last 16 with a match to spare by avoiding defeat, Konate will be fit enough to play some part in the contest.
However, midfield schemer Thiago remains out having been a late withdrawal from the squad to face Forest as the result of an ear infection.
“Still out,” Klopp said of Thiago in his pre-Ajax press conference on Tuesday. “Yes, he [Konate] is here. Ready to play minutes, I would say. He could play the first minutes but that would not make too much sense, so minutes yes. That’s it. Nothing new yet.”
On Nunez, he added: “He trained normal yesterday and today. So yes, in this moment, he is available.”
Klopp could not guarantee that Thiago, who missed a month at the start of the season with a hamstring injury suffered on opening weekend, would recover in time to face Leeds in a top-flight meeting at Anfield on Saturday night.
The German replied: “I hope not but who knows?”
Liverpool’s ongoing injury crisis has only worsened of late, with the likes of Luis Diaz, Arthur Melo and Diogo Jota all long-term absentees and Joel Matip and Naby Keita also in the treatment room.
Keita has returned to training at Kirkby this week, but is apparently unlikely to feature again for the Reds until November.
