Five Liverpool players not spotted in training ahead of Everton derby match
Jurgen Klopp has a substantial amount of time in training to prepare Liverpool for the Merseyside derby.
Monday evening at Anfield, bitter rivals Liverpool and Everton will square off for city bragging rights. In September, the matchup at Goodison Park ended in a scoreless draw.
This season, Liverpool has performed significantly below par, and they are currently tenth in the Premier League table. They enter the match against Everton on the heels of a humiliating 3-0 loss at Wolves.
However, Klopp has nine days to prepare for the derby, and yesterday’s photos from the AXA Training Centre showed that several key players are nearing a return to action.
Diogo Jota has not played since October due to a calf injury, but he has returned to full training, as has Juventus midfielder Arthur Melo, who is on loan from Juventus.
Meanwhile, key duo Virgil van Dijk (hamstring) and Roberto Firmino (calf) appeared to be participating in the warm-up as they work towards a return to full training. Fabinho has also returned from an illness.
However, photographs uploaded by Liverpool’s media team revealed the absence of five players from Klopp’s squad.
This included Thiago Alcantara. The midfielder played 85 minutes during Liverpool’s loss to Wolves and has 24 total appearances this season.
Thiago missed time due to a hamstring injury he sustained in the opening game of the season, a 2-2 draw against Fulham. Since then, he has remained unharmed. Given the problems the Spain international has had in the past, Klopp may be managing him. Thiago has started the last ten consecutive games.
Ibrahima Konate seemingly remains unavailable. The central defender sustained a hamstring injury during the 2-1 FA Cup loss to Brighton.
Fabio Carvalho was not snapped, either. The forward recently missed two games with a minor injury before making his return against Wolves.
Ben Doak has made tremendous strides this season since joining from Celtic last summer. Since the start of the season following the World Cup, the 17-year-old has been a regular on the bench, but he has missed the last three games due to a minor injury. Doak did post earlier this week on Instagram that he would be “back soon.”
Meanwhile, Luis Diaz continues his rehabilitation for a chronic knee injury that has sidelined him since October. Diaz made significant progress but suffered a setback during the World Cup training camp in Dubai. The winger is back to running on the perimeter and is anticipated to be available again next month.
Five Liverpool players not spotted in training ahead of Everton derby match
