A number of Liverpool players look set to return to full fitness in the coming weeks, with two who are yet to kick a ball this season now “back out on the grass” after months on the sidelines.
Saturday’s Premier League meeting with Brighton is the first of 13 matches the Reds will play in the next six weeks, before their campaign comes to a halt for the World Cup.
With an extensive injury list hampering Liverpool’s difficult start to the season, it is vital that Jurgen Klopp has more players available for selection.
As things stand, there have been no reports of fresh injury worries over the course of the international break, and we already know that at least two players who weren’t available for the Reds’ last game over Ajax have now returned to fitness.
Having recovered from a hamstring injury, Jordan Henderson featured in England’s Nations League encounter with Germany on Monday, and Ibrahima Konate is back in full training following a knee problem.
And there’s more positive news on the injury front, with The Athletic‘s James Pearce reporting on Wednesday that Calvin Ramsay and Curtis Jones are “both stepping up their work back out on the grass” at Liverpool’s training ground.
Summer arrival Ramsay has been out since the start of pre-season with various issues, most notably his back, but Klopp explained last month that he is “closer and closer” to joining first-team training.
Jones hasn’t featured since Liverpool’s Community Shield win over Man City in July, with The Times‘ Paul Joyce describing his injury as “a stress reaction to a bone around the tibia.”
He did return to training in August, and was named on the bench for the 2-1 defeat to Man United, before suffering a setback.
However, it seems both could be back in action in the coming weeks, further boosting Klopp’s squad ahead of their hectic pre-World Cup schedule.
Elsewhere, Andy Robertson remains sidelined, having picked up a knee injury against Napoli earlier this month, meaning Kostas Tsimikas should continue at left-back against Brighton.
It’s unclear whether goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher is ready to return to the matchday squad, with Klopp set to provide an injury update in his pre-match press conference on Friday.
Naby Keita, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Kaide Gordon also remain out.
