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Stuart Jamieson

Jurgen Klopp confirms Jota Liverpool setback while James relieved Sterling's a team-mate

Here are the latest Premier League headlines for Thursday, July 14.

Klopp confirms Jota setback

Liverpool striker Diogo Jota has suffered a setback in his recovery from a hamstring injury. Manager Jurgen Klopp fears the 25-year-old may have aggravated the problem he picked up on international duty with Portugal last month on his return to training on Wednesday.

Speaking at the Singapore National Stadium, where the Reds face Crystal Palace in a pre-season friendly on Friday, Klopp told the club's official website: "Diogo is unlucky. Diogo was not involved [against Manchester United] because of an injury he got at the end of his season. He trained yesterday fully and got injured again, so that's really not cool, but we have to wait for the results. He had further assessment this morning, so we have to see."

Asked if the hamstring was the issue, the German added: "We will see. The same region, yes."

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Meanwhile, Klopp revealed that keeper Alisson Becker is also a doubt. He said: "Ali was not 100 per cent. He finished the session earlier, was doing the warming up and felt something so now there we have to wait as well. I think pretty much all the others are fine, so that's it."

James' Sterling relief

Chelsea defender Reece James has admitted his relief that he no longer has to play against "nightmare" opponent Raheem Sterling. The former Manchester City frontman completed an eye-catching move - which is understood to have cost the Blues £47.5million - to Stamford Bridge on Wednesday to link up with England team-mate James, and the 22-year-old defender was even happier than most at his arrival.

Speaking from Chelsea's pre-season training camp in Los Angeles, James told the club's official website: "Playing against him is a nightmare, so I'm pretty happy that he's here now and I don't need to play against him anymore!

"The way he plays, he's so small and sharp. He looks small but you don't realise how strong he is. He never stops and is always trying to run in behind and stuff. I remember he had a good game in the Champions League final. It was an even battle - he beat me a few times and I won duels a few times as well, so it was a tough game between us."

Rashford refreshed for Man U challenge

Marcus Rashford is refreshed, refocused and relishing this "fresh start" under new Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag following a poor season. It is a year and three days since the 24-year-old suffered the crushing disappointment of missing a penalty in England's shoot-out defeat to Italy in the European Championship final at Wembley.

Post-tournament shoulder surgery meant Rashford did not feature for Man United until mid-October, when an initial flurry of goals quickly dried up during the forward's poorest campaign to date. It was a bad season for everyone connected with the Old Trafford giants but the appointment of Ten Hag has brought new optimism to both club and player.

"I think we can do a lot together," Rashford said. "For me, it's a fresh start and something I am looking forward to. The first two and a half weeks of training have been good. We've improved a lot, we're a lot fitter than we were last season.

"And also we're making mistakes along the way, so we have a lot of room for improvement. I'm in a good place right now and I'm just looking forward to getting more games under my belt and get ready for the season."

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