On Saturday, Liverpool will face a Tottenham Hotspur team without Brennan Johnson, but Trent Alexander-Arnold might return to the lineup.
After missing four games with a hamstring injury suffered in early September, the Reds’ No. 66 has returned to training this week.
“Trent trained yesterday normal and will train today normal, and then we have to make a decision,” Jürgen Klopp said of Alexander-Arnold at Friday morning’s pre-match news conference.
I’m not a doctor, so I can’t say for sure, but it seems like he’ll be able to join the team tomorrow and play.
However, Klopp will be without Stefan Bajcetic in north London, while injuries have also sidelined Thiago Alcantara and Conor Bradley.
Bajcetic is getting treatment for a calf problem as he continues to reintegrate into the club after a long-term injury cut short his participation last season.
“Stefan had a little, little setback,” said Klopp. We need to be extremely careful with Stefan since I’m sure everyone wants to see him play more (including myself).
“And now we’re talking about a minor problem with your calves. Six months out, things are like that.
Without forcing him, we’ve tried everything to get him up to speed. We develop a detailed strategy for him, and it’s sad for both of us when he ends up with a different option.
Therefore, we need to restrain him somewhat. Besides playing, he’s pretty good in everything else.
Spurs manager Ange Postecoglou will have to shuffle his lineup around after Johnson was ruled out with a muscular injury.
James Maddison and Son Heung-min trained for the home team before the 5.30pm BST kickoff, and their availability is also being evaluated.
After sustaining an injury to his anterior cruciate ligament, Ivan Perisic will be out for an extended period of time.
“Brennan will miss out this week,” Postecoglou announced on Friday. He won’t be able to play [on Saturday], but it’s nothing too serious.
We will have to wait and observe how Madders and Sonny recover from their workout today. But they both made it through what we required of them, albeit it remains to be seen how they recover.
Postecoglou added, “[I rate them] very highly,” referring to his counterpart at Liverpool and Liverpool in general. They have, without a doubt, been a top-tier football squad for quite some time.
They lost some steam last season, but the core of their identity as a football squad hasn’t changed.
They’re a terrific challenge for us tomorrow since their style of play and approach to the game is unlike that of any other club in the league.
As I mentioned before, this opposition plays the game in a way that is quite different from any other team, so it will be a great test for us to try and force our style of football on them.
Jürgen is a fantastic leader. When he took over at Liverpool, I believe he challenged many of the established norms of the Premier League and essentially introduced a new style of play that has since been adopted by other teams, so he is one of those managers who has had an effect on the entire league and not just his own team.
To quote me: “He is an outstanding manager and as I said, it’s a great test for us for where we are at the moment.”
Last game
Vicario, Porro, Romero, Van de Ven, Udogie, Sarr, Bissouma, Kulusevski, Maddison, Johnson, and Son all played for Tottenham in Arsenal’s 2-2 draw on September 24.
Kelleher, Jones, Konate, Quansah, Tsimikas, Endo, Gravenberch, Elliott, Doak, Jota, and Gakpo for Liverpool against Leicester City on September 27; the final score was 3-1.
