Liverpool team news ahead of the clash against Brentford.
Jurgen Klopp has admitted there is a chance Roberto Firmino and James Milner could return to Liverpool’s squad for the trip to Brentford today (17.30 GMT).
Firmino has been absent for all three of the Reds’ games since the restart of the season after the World Cup. The striker suffered a calf injury in training.
Milner, meanwhile, limped off with a hamstring problem in the Carabao Cup loss to Manchester City.
Klopp conducted his pre-Brentford press duties after Liverpool’s 2-1 defeat of Leicester City on Friday evening. While he couldn’t give specifics at the time, he did say Firmino and Milner could potentially return.
Meanwhile, Curtis Jones is back in training and may also be in the match-day squad against Brentford, having scored in last season’s 3-3 draw. And Klopp revealed there’s a ‘good chance’ Ibrahima Konate might feature. The defender was back on the bench against Leicester after being given time off after France reached the World Cup final.
Klopp said: “Bobby and Millie, we have to see tomorrow (Saturday). There’s a chance. You, good chance. We have other players who are unavailable but not close. Curtis is now in full training so maybe for the squad. We have to see.
“Thankfully, I do this press conference tonight but this information I don’t have this yet. If we did the press conference tomorrow I would know more but probably not a lot. Let’s see.”
Liverpool announced the arrival of Cody Gakpo from PSV Eindhoven before the January transfer window opened yesterday.
The Reds are awaiting paperwork to be ratified for the forward, who cost an initial fee of £37 million, to officially complete his move. It’s unlikely that Gakpo will be available to play as the Premier League offices may not be open today due to the Bank Holiday. And until that happens, Klopp says Gakpo cannot train with Liverpool.
The Reds boss added: “He’s not allowed to train with the team before the papers are signed, I think. Technically, he is still an Eindhoven player. I’m not sure but he’s not allowed. There is a chance but I don’t know. It’s them.”
Andy Robertson and Harvey Elliott both came off in the victory over Leicester. After the game, Klopp said on the pair: “Funnily enough, Harvey, before the game, injured Robbo a little bit. In our warm-up game, he hit him with a knee at the hip, so it was a dead leg.
“He could play but then at one point the muscle closed and he couldn’t play on. Harvey got a knock, which was quite painful, but when you see the situation because it is clear that’s painful, but that’s it, I think.”
