Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson has given Jurgen Klopp a timely injury boost after joining the rest of the squad for training on Thursday. Another full session on Friday could see him return to action for the Reds’ trip to Brighton on Saturday.
Henderson has missed Liverpool’s last two games against Leicester and Atalanta, having withdrawn from international duty with England earlier this month after complaining of muscle tightness during the UEFA Nations League defeat to Belgium.
Injuries have piled up for Liverpool so far this season, particularly in central midfield and defence.
Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez are expected to miss most of the rest of the season as both work through their respective recoveries from knee surgery, while Trent Alexander-Arnold is still nursing a hamstring problem that could keep him out until potentially mid-December.
Aside from being without Henderson in recent games, Liverpool are also still awaiting the return of summer signing Thiago Alcantara. The Spaniard has not played since he was on the receiving end of a reckless tackle from Everton forward Richarlison in the Merseyside derby on 17 October.
Thiago’s return has been a source of great unknown, with Klopp commenting last weekend that it is ‘not too far’ away, but that he still has ‘no idea’ of an exact time-scale.
Fabinho has also been absent from Klopp’s first choice midfield because the dependable Brazilian has been filling in at the back to make up for the losses of Van Dijk and Gomez.
But despite the absences of key first-team players, Liverpool have been able to offer more chances to the ever promising Curtis Jones.
Wearing Steven Gerrard’s old number 17 shirt this season, the home-grown 19-year-old has now started four of Liverpool’s last five games in all competitions. That included a very impressive display against Leicester last weekend in what had the potential to be a very difficult contest.
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Source : 90min