Klopp provides injury update as Liverpool to land fitness boost for Newcastle United
Liverpool face Newcastle United on New Year’s Day and Diogo Jota is again set to be in the match-day squad.
Jurgen Klopp has confirmed that Diogo Jota will be back in full Liverpool training less than a day after his perfect return from injury.
The Portuguese was back in the Reds’ squad after a month on the sidelines with a hamstring injury for the trip to Burnley on Boxing Day. It appeared it would be a routine triumph for the visitors at Turf Moor when Darwin Nunez broke the deadlock inside six minutes. But Liverpool wasted a host of chances in the first half against relegation-threatened Burnley and came under pressure after the break.
However, Jota was introduced from the bench and put the game to rest when he slotted home in the 90th minute – with Liverpool moving to the top of the Premier League. Klopp admitted that the Reds’ medical staff wanted the forward to have additional training before being introduced to action. But with Newcastle United visiting Anfield on New Year’s Day, Jota will undergo more sessions – meaning he will be fitter and sharper.
Liverpool manager Klopp said: “You never know exactly what you can expect with the fourth game in 10 days, it was really intense. Whatever the outside world thinks, it is really intense – and coming here and playing the game we played is absolutely exceptional. It’s exceptional as well that we didn’t score more goals… actually, we did but for different reasons they took them away. So, we had to wait long and obviously for a long time we caused Burnley so many problems, we played a super game. As the last game in a really busy period you cannot really expect that but we did.
“I really liked the game we played, but we should have scored more and that’s clear. Then the game stays open and Burnley have massive chances to score [at] the second post – maybe even the first they had, if I am right: the finish when he mishits the ball. I am pretty sure that was the first chance [for them], but in the end we deserved to win the game and it was two perfect goalscorers, I would say, with Darwin and then Diogo.
“We sneaked him in somehow on the squad list because he trained only twice and the medical department wanted to give him extra training and I said he can have that in Burnley. He had that tonight and now he can train tomorrow properly and then he will be ready for Newcastle, which is really helpful. Two-nil, no injuries, all good.”
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