Virgil van Dijk and Roberto Firmino have provided Liverpool with the perfect pick-me-up by returning to training.
The Reds are in the midst of a miserable season, dumped out of both domestic cups and their top-four hopes hanging by a thread. Going into this weekend’s clash at Wolves they find themselves in ninth place and 10 points behind Manchester United, who occupy the final Champions League berth.
In recent weeks Jurgen Klopp’s squad has been ravaged by injuries at both ends of the pitch with a host of starters on the sidelines. Arguably, the most notable of those absentees has been Van Dijk, with the Dutchman missing their last five games with a hamstring injury.
But the central defender was spotted in first-team training on Thursday, raising hopes he could be available for selection in the near future. And his return to fitness would come at the perfect time, with Ibrahima Konate now set for around three weeks out.
Firmino meanwhile hasn’t played since their mid-season training camp in Dubai, joining the likes of Luis Diaz and Diogo Jota on the treatment table. Speaking last week, Klopp admitted that those unavailable were still a couple of weeks away from returning to training with the full group.
"Closer, yes. (Imminent?) No." Klopp said before the FA Cup defeat to Brighton. "But Diogo, Bobby and Virgil, a couple of weeks before they can join training and then we have to see how quickly it goes from there.”
It is understood the pair were still working away from the main group and so the trip to the Midlands this weekend will come too soon for both. However, following the game at Wolves, Liverpool have the Merseyside derby and a trip to top-four rivals Newcastle United, before they resume hostilities with Real Madrid in the Champions League on February 21.
Last season’s finalists will go head-to-head at Anfield for the first leg of their round-of-16 tie, before making the return trip to the Spanish capital three weeks later.
Many had expected Liverpool to dip into the transfer market in the final days of the window, particularly with their lengthy injury list. But Klopp stood pat as the window closed, with Cody Gakpo their only arrival in January.
Kop legend Jamie Carragher told Sky Sports that he understood fan frustration at the lack of activity, but praised his old side for not pushing the panic button. "In terms of transfers, I can understand the frustrations of Liverpool fans when they see other clubs spending left, right and centre, and because Liverpool are not bringing someone in, it almost looks like they have given up on that fight for the top four,” he explained.
"But what I would never want my club to be, which is what they were when I was a player, is a little bit scattergun, panicking at different times, whereas Liverpool over the last four or five years have been a model that other clubs around Europe have wanted to follow.”
He added: "If Liverpool are not bringing players in now because they have not got the money, or the player is not there that Klopp wants, that is a completely different argument that we do not know, we are not privy to that information."
