Jurgen Klopp has stressed that “nobody really is ruled out” for Liverpool ahead of Sunday’s Merseyside derby, despite concerns over the fitness of Mohamed Salah.
The Egyptian has been absent from training in recent days, and sat out of the 6-0 friendly win over Blackburn last week, with the club’s medical staff taking no risks.
There have been question marks over the availability of Andy Robertson for the upcoming trip to Everton, too, with the left-back also not pictured in the latest photos from Melwood.
But while the Evening Standard‘s David Lynch claimed that the club had “refused to comment” on whether Salah was suffering from an injury, Klopp has attempted to clear things up.
Though the manager did not address Salah or Robertson specifically, the timing of Liverpool’s interview with Klopp suggests it came in response to speculation over the No. 11.
“We had the normal things, I would say, after a long break, but I am not sure it has anything to do with that,” he said.
“It was just that we trained and things can happen—and we played as well and things can happen.
“In the moment, nobody really is ruled out for Sunday, but we have to see.
“A few trained more, a few trained less, most trained all [sessions], so that’s good news and in the end we will have a good team on the pitch, 100 percent.”
Klopp is set to hold his pre-match press conference at 1.30pm on Friday afternoon, allowing journalists an opportunity to coax further information on the fitness of Robertson, Salah and others.
But for now, his comments should be taken with a pinch of salt, as though no player is “ruled out” at this stage, it is likely due to there still being three full days until the derby.
Liverpool can afford to take time when assessing the fitness of their squad, particularly as the trip across Stanley Park is a short one, and the decision over ‘in’ or ‘out’ can be made late.
The hope is that Salah is available, but if he is ruled out it seems one of Takumi Minamino or Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain could be primed for a starting role.
Klopp was pictured deep in conversation with Minamino after the Reds’ training session on Wednesday, with the Japanese forward having made a mark in the recent warmup games, including a goal against Blackburn.
Adrian and Divock Origi also missed that friendly, but are now both back, though Curtis Jones is seemingly absent and could be a doubt for the derby, like Robertson, Salah and Xherdan Shaqiri.
Youngsters Leighton Clarkson and Jake Cain have been called into the first-team squad, with sides now able to name nine substitutes and use a total of five during any game from now until the end of the season.
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