Jurgen Klopp Provides Fitness Update on Key Liverpool Duo After 5-0 Huddersfield Thrashing
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has provided a positive update regarding the fitness of key duo Roberto Firmino and Virgil van Dijk following their emphatic 5-0 win over Huddersfield.
A Naby Keita goal inside the opening 15 seconds and braces for Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah sealed the victory for the Reds at Anfield, as they leapfrogged Manchester City back to the top of the Premier League.
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One notable absentee for Klopp's side was Firmino, who missed the game on Friday due to 'a little muscle issue' in the words of his manager, meaning he wasn't risked ahead of the first leg of their Champions League semi-final against Barcelona.
Speaking after the game to the club's official website however, the German was optimistic regarding Firmino's chances of playing at Camp Nou.
He said: "Bobby trained yesterday completely normally, it was not high-intensity we just had to work on set-pieces a little bit and here and there a couple of things. I didn’t see it in training, it happened in the last situation of training and he felt a muscle a little bit.
"Now, the official diagnosis is he has a small tear in a small muscle, so apart from the word ‘tear’ everything else is positive.
"It is Bobby, so he might be ready for Wednesday, but we obviously don’t know in the moment. Because it is him, it’s rather likely that [he will be] than not, but we will see. So, of all the bad news you can get it is pretty much the best, but it’s still bad enough that he couldn’t play tonight."
The Liverpool boss also quelled any talk of fitness concerns for Van Dijk, who completed 90 minutes despite appearing to pick up a knock in the early stages of the second half.
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Asked if the Dutch defender had sustained an injury, Klopp replied: "No, nothing. I asked him, he said, 'No, no, all good'."
