Jürgen Klopp on LFC squad's fitness latest ahead of Dortmund clash
Jürgen Klopp reported his Liverpool squad is ‘in good shape and feeling confident’ ahead of Thursday night’s Europa League tussle with Borussia Dortmund at Anfield.
The manager confirmed the Reds picked up no fresh injury concerns during Sunday’s 4-1 home success over Stoke City as they gear up for what’s certain to be an occasion to savour in front of the Kop.
And Klopp insists that being able to call on the majority of his players - longer-term absentees Jordan Henderson, Christian Benteke, Danny Ings, Jordan Rossiter and Joe Gomez apart, plus the ineligible Jon Flanagan - was a selection dilemma he was happy to have.
He told journalists at Melwood: “All of them [are fit], nothing happened really after the Stoke game. I have heard nothing so everything is OK.
“In a perfect world, each player is in the best shape he can be in. You have always more than 11 players, so there are always difficult decisions. This situation is more of a moment where you can make no mistakes as a manager [because] each player you take and bring into the line-up is in good shape, so that’s good news.
“It will be not too difficult [to pick a line-up], it’s only difficult for the players to accept in moments like this that they are not in the line-up because they feel good and they feel confident. If you are not involved in a game, not even in the squad, that’s the problem.
“It’s not difficult that I don’t know who to bring into the game. It’s more than 11 players, more than 16 players, in a good shape and that’s good news – and that’s all.”
Liverpool head into the contest on the back of that confidence-boosting victory over Stoke – a game that saw strikers Daniel Sturridge and Divock Origi get their names on the scoresheet.
One reporter quizzed Klopp on whether he’d given any thought to the prospect of working on a formation that would enable him to field the pair together from the off against Dortmund.
Klopp responded with a smile: “We will have all the goalscorers of Liverpool FC on the pitch and then we will hope Dortmund will not recognise it, or something like this!
“It’s not about the formation. We have a few different possibilities to find a line-up. There has been no final decision up to now because we had only three days since the last game so we have to wait for the last information and then we will make the line-up for tomorrow.
“We have to show we’re prepared, that’s all. It’s not about how many strikers we have on the pitch who can score goals.
“You’ll have to wait until tomorrow night and then you will know.”