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Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has provided an update on the availability of Diogo Jota and Alisson Becker ahead of the Reds' pre-season friendly against Red Bull Salzburg on Wednesday.
The Reds will take on the Austrian side in their fourth pre-season game of the summer. They lost their first 4-0 against Manchester United but bounced back with wins over Crystal Palace and RB Leipzig.
However, the Reds will face Salzburg without two Jota and Alisson, as they continue to recover from their injuries. Klopp told Liverpool's website about the duo:
“Obviously Diogo (Jota) is not here; that’s clear. But from the boys who are injured but are here, Ali is the closest – definitely not for Salzburg, but then we will see. He is close to get back, I think."
Klopp also said that he isn't sure if there would be more absentees from his team's training session, saying:
“This afternoon is an important session as well; in this moment, I don’t know who can take part in it. We need to have a look, and we will play the game. It’s pre-season, so we have to get through it, and then we have to deal with it."
He added:
“Between now and five o’clock, it’s now 2pm, and between now and 5pm, I will wait for messages and see who can train this afternoon properly. Then the game tomorrow, we will see."
Klopp added that pre-season is to improve fitness and formulate tactical plans. He said:
“But how all pre-season games are, they are important for us from a physical point of view, from a tactical point of view, from a growing point of view into ourselves again. Let’s see.”
“That’s not a problem with the Saturday game" - Klopp on Liverpool players' fitness ahead of Community Shield
Liverpool will take on rivals Manchester City in the FA Community Shield on Saturday, July 30, at the King Power Stadium.
Jurgen Klopp believes his players will be ready to face the Cityzens. The Liverpool manager added that they have pushed the players well in training this summer. He believes they 'llbe ready to play full 90 minutes against City this weekend.
When asked if some of his players would play close to 90 minutes against Salzburg, Klopp said:
“That’s not a problem with the Saturday game. This pre-season we had to do slightly different, and we wanted to do as well. All of them will play the first time 90 minutes on Saturday, all of them. But that’s how we did the training."
He concluded:
“So the training sessions were intense to a specific point, that we could get fitter and fitter. The running sessions were extremely hard, but we took care of them, and now let’s see how we can grow in this season. For City, it’s not really different; they came back from America probably yesterday or something like that. So it will be a tough one.”
After facing City, Liverpool will face Strasbourg on August 1 before starting their Premier League campaign against Fulham five days later.
