Klopp: "Virgil van Dijk is 100 per cent available"
Friday 22 November 2019 13:55, UK
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has confirmed Mohamed Salah is a doubt to face Crystal Palace as he continues to struggle with an ongoing ankle problem.
Salah was left out of Egypt's squad for their recent Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against Kenya and Comoros in order to continue treatment on the injury which he aggravated against Manchester City earlier this month.
The 27-year-old has been able to train with Liverpool but Klopp is unsure if the forward will have recovered in time for Saturday's trip to Selhurst Park.
Klopp said: "He has trained the whole time he has been here but only the things we wanted him to do.
"Today is another important session for us to see how it looks and we can make a decision. It's not that it got worse, it is still there, and that's the problem.
"We have to be sensible. I haven't made a decision. I will have to see the session later."
Virgil van Dijk was also a doubt for the match after withdrawing from the Netherlands squad for their final European Qualifier against Estonia due to "personal reasons".
However, Klopp has confirmed the defender will be available to face Palace, although he is unsure over a number of his other players including Andrew Robertson (ankle) and Joel Matip (knee).
"Virgil van Dijk is 100 per cent available. It's that time of the year when players can pull of the squad overnight unfortunately with some other things with feeling sick," said Klopp.
"On the others I cannot say 100 per cent. Today's a very important session, especially for the players that came back late. Fabinho, Roberto Firmino and Alisson played on Tuesday, so did [Georginio] Wijnaldum.
"We need to have a look at how they react and what makes sense for them. It is always like this the first game after the international break, we have to wait pretty much until the last second before making decisions.
"Nobody came back with a serious injury."
Xherdan Shaqiri has returned to training after recovering from a calf problem and is now working his way back to full match fitness.
The Switzerland international has played just 29 minutes of first-team football this season but Klopp insists he has a future at Anfield.
"When I am with him, he is completely happy and fine here," said Klopp. "Speculations are speculations, we can't change them.
"Of course he has a future here. We all speak about the future until the season ends, and then maybe a player comes to me or not. But at the moment nobody thinks about that.
"At the moment we are completely in this season and this season he is a very, very important player for us."
Klopp admits he was surprised Mauricio Pochettino was sacked by Tottenham, six months after facing the Argentine in the Champions League final, but is glad to see new head coach Jose Mourinho back in the Premier League.
Klopp said: "Welcome back Jose. It's nice to have him back, it was desperate in the time he was not in!
"On the other side, Mauricio is not there anymore and it shows how quickly things change. Around five months ago we played each other in the Champions League final.
"Now he is on holiday, he can enjoy it now. He did a brilliant job at Tottenham, nobody doubts that. He's an outstanding coach and a great guy, left and right of the game.
"I really enjoyed the games we played - he was my first game in the Premier League so we have a bit of history.
"Everybody knows that for all the jobs not available and available Mauricio will be in contention. Everything will be fine, but that was a big one.
"I couldn't really believe it when I first heard it but a couple of hours later they already had a solution. I hope he can enjoy the next few weeks because it won't be long before he is back. And Jose is highly motivated."
