Liverpool welcome Chelsea on Saturday lunchtime for the first Premier League fixture of 2023 at Anfield.
It's been a difficult few weeks on the road for Jurgen Klopp's side having suffered back-to-back league defeats at Brentford and Brighton, shifting six goals in the process to leave their top-four hopes hanging precariously by a thread.
A 10-point gap now stands between them and fourth and the prospect of Champions League football at Anfield next season appears remote just now. A huge turnaround will be needed from Klopp's men to have any chance of hosting football in Europe's premier competition.
As part of the build-up to the weekend's game, here are all the latest off-diary titbits and gossip of what has been happening around Anfield of late.
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Jota update
It was heartening to hear Jurgen Klopp deliver a positive update on the fitness of Diogo Jota this week.
The Portugal international was sadly forced to miss the World Cup after suffering a serious calf injury in the closing stages of the 1-0 win over Manchester City on October 16, but is back on light duties ahead of a return to the fold.
Jota is working towards his own individually-tailored programme having successfully come through a series of rehabilitation sessions out in Dubai last month.
Klopp is hopeful he will be fit in the next few weeks and stated a comeback will be on the cards before that Champions League showdown with Real Madrid on February 21.
"He is extremely smart football-wise," Klopp said on Monday. "He will be back here again [in his mind] because it is like he is playing the games without playing the games.
"I don't know exactly how long he will be out for, but he looks really good. He is out there on the pitch and doing a lot of stuff already but he will be out for another few weeks.
"Is he in contention for the Champions League? From my point of view, yes. But I don't know. Yes."
Special Gest
A number of the Liverpool squad may well have found some friendly faces on enemy territory on Tuesday night at Wolves.
As the agency that has Wolves on speed dial, it was no surprise to learn that the Jorge Mendes-founded group Gestifute have an executive box of their own at Molinuex.
The Portuguese group has wielded plenty of influence around that particular area of the Black Country in recent years but they also have a strong relationship with senior figures at Liverpool, too.
Darwin Nunez, Diogo Jota and Fabinho are all part of the Gestifute stable and both the club and the agency have forged strong links dating back to the move for the latter back in the summer of 2018, with sporting director Julian Ward, in particular, close with key operators within their organisation.
Might there have been one or two quiet and informal chats about future transfer targets on Tuesday night then? Liverpool do hold a long-standing interest in Matheus Nunes, after all and captain Ruben Neves is another who has been linked in recent times.
Protests?
Certain sections of social media this week have attempted to round up the troops in protest of current owners Fenway Sports Group.
With the unrest at the lack of transfer activity reaching perhaps an all-time high in recent weeks, some accounts have tried to get the word about engineering visible, vocal opposition to the ownership group this weekend.
FSG continue to explore their options around either a full or partial sale of the club and have kept to their strictly self-sustaining business model that Liverpool operate within during that particular process.
New players are being demanded, however, and the calls to sign a midfielder this January have reached deafening levels in the social media realms. Is that enough to kick-start a full-blown protest against the Boston-based FSG though?
Saturday morning before the Chelsea game will reveal all, but anyone hoping for large swathes of dissenting match-goers are likely to be disappointed, however.
Firmino update
Jurgen Klopp remains hopeful of keeping Roberto Firmino at Liverpool beyond this current campaign.
The Brazilian is into the final few months of his Reds deal and can speak to clubs outside of England about a pre-contract deal this month.
Speculation has continued to link Firmino with moves away, with interest from the Middle East noted. Klopp, though, wants the 31-year-old to stay beyond the eight years he has served.
Any new deal might involve reduced terms for a player who turns 32 in October, however. Firmino is one of the highest earners at the club and with Cody Gakpo, Darwin Nunez and Luis Diaz all being brought to the club in 2022, the former Hoffenheim man may not be called on in future as regularly as he has been this term.
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