The break in the Premier League season for the World Cup has allowed three Liverpool players to regain their fitness.
Jurgen Klopp’s side have not played since beating Southampton 3-1 on November 12 due to the Qatar World Cup, which began on November 20 and finishes on December 18. Liverpool will return to competitive action when they take on Manchester City in the Carabao Cup on December 22.
In order to be fully prepared for that match, and the return of the Premier League four days later, the Reds are heading out to Dubai for some warm weather training. Klopp and his squad will begin training at the Nad Al Sheba Sports Complex on Tuesday.
While they will be without Jordan Henderson, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Alisson, Fabinho, Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate, who are still competing at the World Cup - and Darwin Nunez, who has been given a week off following Uruguay’s exit - they do have some players returning to fitness.
Crucially, Luis Diaz is now ready to return to training following a period of rehabilitation at Liverpool’s Kirkby training base. The Colombian winger hasn’t played since picking up a knee injury against Arsenal on October 9, but has now made a recovery.
“We can’t wait to see Luis back. He is this player who smiles when he has the ball at his feet,” said assistant manager Pep Lijnders. Diaz will be joined by Naby Keita and Joel Matip on the training pitch in Dubai.
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Keita hasn’t played since the Community Shield win over Manchester City in late July due to a hamstring injury, while Joel Matip has been out with a calf injury since the 3-2 defeat by Arsenal.
Liverpool will be in Dubai until December 17 and, as well as training, they will take part in the Dubai Super Cup. The tournament, which will include penalty shootouts in every match for bonus points, will take place at the 15,000 capacity Al-Maktoum Stadium.
Klopp’s side will play Lyon on Sunday, December 11 and AC Milan on Friday, December 16, to try and get back up to speed following a lengthy break.
Diogo Jota missed Portugal’s campaign at the World Cup with a serious calf injury, but is expected to travel to Dubai with his Liverpool teammates, who will include Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino, Thiago, Joe Gomez, James Milner, Harvey Elliott, Fabio Carvalho and Andy Robertson.
Jota isn’t expected to be back playing until February, but Lijnders is hoping the warm weather might aid the recovery process. “A change of scenery is always a welcome factor when recovering from a long-term injury,” he said.
