Jurgen Klopp gave an update on five injuries and accepted Fabinho is “not flying” as he spoke to journalists ahead Wolves vs. Liverpool on Saturday.
Here are the five key points from Klopp’s pre-match press conference…
Jota will be back next week
The manager brought good news as he confirmed Diogo Jota would be “pretty much back in normal training next week,” with Virgil van Dijk and Roberto Firmino “getting closer” too.
Luis Diaz “will take a few weeks” but is looking “really good” as he starts running again, but Ibrahima Konate is out with a new muscle injury.
Klopp admitted it was “not cool” to have to change centre-back partnership again, but backed Joe Gomez and Joel Matip as stand-ins.
Fabinho “has to work his way back”
The Brazilian’s decline is arguably the most concerning among Klopp’s senior squad, and the manager accepted his No. 3 is “not flying.”
“It’s really helpful that we have Stefan, to be 100 percent honest,” he added, with Fabinho having to “work his way back.”
Rashford shows players can come back
On that point, Klopp held up Man United striker Marcus Rashford as “one of the best examples ever” of a player reviving his form after a high-profile slump.
“The season he had last year and the season he has this year, I’m not sure he can even explain it,” he said.
Not worried about nasty run of fixtures
After their third meeting with Wolves in a month, Liverpool take on Everton, Newcastle and Real Madrid in their next three games, with the visit of Man United then coming after a trip to Crystal Palace.
Klopp insisted, though, that he “doesn’t worry about the run of fixtures,” instead seeing it as an opportunity for Liverpool to “decide how positive the outcome will be.”
“I say nothing, without my lawyer!”
That was Klopp’s joking response when he was asked to reflect on Chelsea‘s ridiculous spending.
“The players they brought in, I didn’t think once ‘why did they do that?’. So from that point of view, congratulations,” he said.
“I don’t understand how it’s possible, but it’s obviously not for me to explain how it works.”
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