Your Liverpool early headlines on Thursday, May 26.
Vinicius Junior makes surprise Liverpool claim before Champions League final v Real Madrid
Real Madrid forward Vinicius Junior wants Liverpool to field a full-strength team in the Champions League final on Saturday.
The Reds head to Paris with a question mark over key man Thiago Alcantara. He was taken off at half-time in the 3-1 home win over Wolves on the final day of the Premier League season and is seen as a doubt for the clash with Madrid, although Jurgen Klopp has offered a positive update. There have also been injury doubts over Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Fabinho. However, all three trained on Wednesday.
The last time the two teams met at this stage of the competition was in the 2018 final when infamously Sergio Ramos fouled Salah, which resulted in a shoulder injury that ended the Liverpool forward's game. Real went on to win 3-1 and Salah has since spoken out about getting 'revenge' this weekend.
The Egyptian should be fit along with the vast majority of Jurgen Klopp's players - and that will please Vinicius Junior.
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Jamie Carragher sends Liverpool warning before Champions League final with Real Madrid
Jamie Carragher believes Liverpool have the capabilities to beat Real Madrid in the Champions League final but has raised concerns over starting slow.
Despite the Reds running out 3-1 winners over Wolves on the final day of the Premier League on Sunday, Pedro Neto stunned Anfield in the opening stages as he pounced on Ibrahima Konate's mistake at the back.
And Champions League-winning defender Carragher has outlined the dangers of a slow start against Madrid - but feels his former club have greater quality than the 13-time record holders.
"Liverpool have got the powers of recovery mentally," the 42-year-old, who helped win the club's fifth European Cup in 2005, told the Blood Red Podcast. "I never feared when that early goal went in that they wouldn’t win the game but you don’t want to be doing that too often towards the end of the season because you can see signs in the second half, where are they going to get this energy from?
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