Jurgen Klopp on whether Fabinho, Alisson & Diogo Jota could feature against Chelsea
By Tom Gott
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has revealed he hopes to see Fabinho, Alisson and Diogo Jota back in the squad in time to face Chelsea on Thursday.
The trio all missed Sunday's 2-0 win over Sheffield United. Jota was supposed to return after a three-month layoff with a knee injury, only to fall ill overnight and miss the match, Fabinho was injured and Alisson was granted time off following the tragic death of his father in Brazil.
Well earned 3️⃣ points tonight... happy to be back between the sticks again getting a lovely clean sheet, this one is for you, hermano @Alissonbecker
— Adrián San Miguel (@AdriSanMiguel) February 28, 2021
??? #YNWA #AlwaysTogether pic.twitter.com/d4qUrHx5M7
Liverpool didn't need any of the group against the Blades as Curtis Jones and a Kean Bryan own goal fired them to victory, but Klopp confessed after the game that he hopes to have all three back in time for the clash with Thomas Tuchel's Chelsea.
“Alisson and Fabinho, I’m pretty sure [will be available]," Klopp said (via the club's official website). “With Diogo, he was with us in the hotel, but he got sick overnight and we had to send him home. It depends how quick he will recover, obviously.
“He was in the squad and as I said before, he trained with the team and it all looked really good but unfortunately he got sick overnight. I think he will be available, but I don’t know.”
Victory over Sheffield United brought an end to a concerning run of form for Liverpool. They came into the game on the back of four straight Premier League defeats - form which has seen them drop out of the top four.
The Reds now sit sixth in the table, two points behind West Ham in fourth, and Klopp warned Liverpool's critics that they should not be ruled out just yet.
"It was very important [the result] because plenty of people have written us off and that's completely fine," he told Sky Sports. "It's about us to show we are still there and tonight, we showed that. On Thursday, we play Chelsea and we have to show it again.
"But with all the problems we've had, we're still around the exciting places and that's where we want to be, where we want to fight for and that's what we will do.
"I have never thought about controlling the situation or whatever, you just have to win football games, we know that and the rest is controlled by itself and it's always like this. There's no way without results into the Champions League and that's what we need. We got it tonight and now we keep on going."