Liverpool’s title challenge has received a massive boost after Jurgen Klopp confirmed that key stars, Alisson, Diogo Jota, and Trent Alexander-Arnold are all back in full training.
The influential trio has been missing for most of 2024, with Alisson suffering a hamstring problem in training, while Jota and Alexander-Arnold both suffered knee injuries. In their absence, Klopp has utilised Caoimhin Kelleher in goal, and young Conor Bradley at right-back, with both players excelling in recent weeks, however, as we head towards the final few weeks of the season, Klopp will be delighted to have his established stars back in training, and available for the Reds upcoming games, although none of the three will be risked in the Reds Europa League Quarter-Final against Atalanta on tomorrow.
Indeed, it may not be until later in the month that any of the three make a competitive start, with the second leg against Atalanta (on the 18th of April), or the Premier League fixture against Fulham (on the 21st of April) the most likely return dates.
Another player also made a welcome return to full training this week, with young midfielder Stefan Bajcetic back with the first team, after training with the Under-21s for the last week or so. The youngster has missed most of the season with various issues, related to muscle development (or growing pains as it’s commonly referred to).
Although Liverpool are now well-stocked in the midfield department, it will be exciting to see Bajcetic back in action, as he had an excellent end to the 2022-23 season, and looks to be the natural heir to Wataru Endo’s no.6 position.
Remaining injured players are unlikely to play again this season
Despite the good news, the Reds still have several injured players, the majority of whom will not play again this season.
Amongst them are injured midfielder Thiago Alcantara, and veteran defender Joel Matip. With both players out of contract in the summer, it’s quite likely that neither player will play another game for Liverpool, with Thiago being the subject of interest from Saudi Arabia and North America. Matip’s preference would be to stay at Anfield but with a new manager set to replace Jurgen Klopp, Matip probably leaves on a free, with his wages being used on a new, younger left-footed central defender.
Elsewhere, Ben Doak continues to recover from a hamstring injury, but will not feature for the first team again this season. Thankfully the youngster has plenty of years ahead of him and will be looking to impress his new boss during the Red’s upcoming pre-season tour of America.
Jurgen Klopp will be giving his Atalanta pre-match press conference later this afternoon, and LFC – Back On Our Perch will have all the latest news and developments.
