Liverpool will be looking to make three Premier League wins in a row when they travel to Nottingham Forest on Saturday lunchtime, having recorded 1-0 victories over both Man City and West Ham United in the past week.
Previewing the game at his latest pre-match press conference, Jurgen Klopp admitted Naby Keita wasn’t yet ready to return to action despite returning to training this week, while also revealing the Reds will have monitor Darwin Nunez before deciding if he can play after he suffered a muscle complaint against the Hammers on Wednesday night.
The German was also quizzed about Steven Gerrard’s sacking as Aston Villa manager, revealing he had spoken to the Liverpool legend on Friday morning. But beyond that, here’s what else we learned from Klopp’s latest media briefing…
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Keita and Konate return dates set
Klopp confirmed that, if everything goes to plan, both Naby Keita and Ibrahima Konate will be back in full team training on Monday. As a result, the Frenchman could be back in matchday squad contention against Ajax next week, with the German already previously suggesting he should be fine to return once he’s come through training unscathed.
However, having tread carefully with Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Curtis Jones following their own returns to training after lengthy lay-offs, Keita might have to wait until next month to get back on the pitch.
“From Monday on, Naby and Ibou, if everything goes as planned, will be involved in full team training,” Klopp said. ”He (Keita) was out for a while, like Ox was. Ox was on the bench but I don't think he was ready to play the last game but he's getting close though. He's one or two weeks ahead of Naby which is very helpful for us as well.
"It's now about making it possible so he can sustain an awful lot of games coming up. There are a lot of football games to play and I can't wait to have him back properly.
"(He'll be back) Before (the World Cup). As long as we can give the boys time to recover fully and get as fit as possible, we always try to do that. The problem is when you start with injuries in the season, the boys who come back very often have to play too early because there are no other options.
"In this case, I hope not. I hope we can do that and give him time until he can play. But maybe next week I tell you Naby Keita starts. I don't know, we will see."
Meanwhile, while not reporting any new injuries or comebacks, Klopp admitted that a late decision would be made on Darwin Nunez’s availability.
"We have to check (Darwin), he said. "He had treatment yesterday and we will see what we get told later.”
Latest on FA charge
Having been sent off against Man City last weekend, Klopp was subsequently charged by the FA for breaking of the FA Rule E3. The German was given until Friday to respond.
While he didn’t reveal whether he was challenging the charge or not, the German told reporters that he expected to be on the sidelines against Nottingham Forest.
“We just follow the process,” he said. “In this moment, I expect to be on the bench tomorrow but I don’t know 100%.
“It’s a normal process. We are not too used to it but we have enough people who know how it goes and did everything we have to do.”
‘Perfect’ player set for role
Curtis Jones made his playing comeback as a substitute against West Ham in midweek, having not featured since July’s Community Shield win over Man City. Given Liverpool’s injury problems this year, and enforced change of formation, the England Under-21s international’s return to action is most welcome with the 21-year-old poised to play a prominent role in the weeks ahead.
“You cannot stall or stop Curtis’ progress but yes, it was a tough one,” Klopp said. “Freak injuries. Finger in the eye. Stuff like this was crazy.
“This stress reaction this season, out of the blue and nobody knew where it was coming from. With young players, these kind of things happen when you are growing. Curtis grew.
“It’s perfect to have him back. He’s an exceptional player, an exceptional talent. In whichever system we can play, he can play different positions which is very helpful.
“It’s very important to get the game-time but you can see, you cannot replace football training. Where do we go? Where does he have to go for a game?
“He didn’t play for U21s, we just brought him in after a long time without playing regularly. You could see there was still space for improvement but that’s normal.
“It’s perfect having him back and, hopefully from now, having him back will be very helpful for us.”
4-4-2 and rotation stance
Rotation has been common in the Liverpool squad this season, though sometimes enforced because of injury, as Klopp’s side look to navigate the intensest of fixture runs. Having made five changes against West Ham, such a stance looks set to continue in the weeks ahead where possible.
“I’m not sure we can make the changes every week (but) as long as we can, we will make changes,” the German told reporters.
Meanwhile, it also seems that the Reds’ 4-4-2 hybrid formation is here to stay for now too after helping Liverpool slowly return to form in recent weeks - dependent on player availability of course.
“(It brings us) Stability, closing gaps we left open in the weeks before,” Klopp said. “Not on purpose, it just happened. We played a specific system and a specific way for quite some time.
“When you get used to things, you lose a little bit of the desire for the detail. Because it was so well tuned, how we defended or how we pressed, little things can change a lot.
“That’s why we had to change a big thing to start thinking new about it as a group. That’s why we had to do things differently. It’s not a big difference, just a change of responsibilities slightly.
“It’s given us more stability so far in different moments. We will always play like this to get stability again. It all depends on who is available, who is fit.
“When we started the 4-4-2, we had two more strikers available. It was only 10 days ago. We have to stay open to all possibilities we can do and we will make decisions about that.
“What is best for us and what is worst for the opponent. That’s always how you try to set up. That’s what we did and what we will do.”
And one thing we didn’t learn…
While Klopp might be delighted to have Keita close to a return, he was giving nothing away regarding the Guinean’s future. Out of contract next summer, there has been plenty of speculation this season regarding the midfield’s happiness at the club and a rumoured desire to move on.
When asked about Keita’s future, Klopp cryptically admitted it remains up in the air for now.
"The situation with Naby is clear,” he said. “Whatever happens in the summer, nobody knows in this moment.”
Given questions regarding the futures of Emre Can and Gini Wijnaldum were treated similarly when they were nearing the end of their own contract, speculation regarding the Guinean leaving next summer is only set to increase.
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