Jürgen Klopp's LFC injury update ahead of Arsenal opener
Jürgen Klopp admits Liverpool will need to check on the fitness of Daniel Sturridge and James Milner prior to their Premier League opener at Arsenal this weekend.
Sturridge sustained a hip injury ahead of the Reds’ International Champions Cup tie with Barcelona last weekend that subsequently ruled him out of the clash with the La Liga club and the following day’s fixture against FSV Mainz 05 in Germany.
The striker resumed training this week, but Liverpool will take no risks with the condition of the 26-year-old.
The same approach will be adopted with Milner, who picked up a heel problem at Wembley that forced him from the field before half-time last Saturday.
Offering an update on Sturridge to Liverpoolfc.com at Melwood, Klopp said: “On Wednesday he could train. On Thursday, he felt [it] a little bit so we will have to see.
“Of course, he had a few days where he couldn’t train and that’s not too good for the Arsenal game, but we have other players who are available and that’s good for us. Hopefully it stays like this and we can give Daniel enough time so that when he is fit again, he can then become match fit in the next few days. There are a lot of games to play.
“It is nothing serious with him, but it was enough to get him out of training and so now we have to see. It’s how I always say, we have to think about the players that are available at the moment and all the other guys have to work as hard as possible to become fit again.”
On Milner, Klopp continued: “With Millie we have to wait. It’s better than we all expected after the [Barcelona] game when we saw him walking out of the stadium on crutches – that’s not the best picture you want to see after a game.
“On Sunday he felt better, on Monday he felt better. It’s a bruise in the heel, so that’s really painful and I can say that when it is too painful for Millie, then it’s really painful.
“[We will take] no risk at the moment, we have to wait until everybody says we can go on and that’s what we’ll do.”
Elsewhere, there was better news on Dejan Lovren and Marko Grujic, both of whom sustained knocks last weekend but are in contention to face Arsenal.
“There is no problem - Dejan has been completely normal in training,” added Klopp.
“Marko was back in training on Thursday, it was not serious as I mentioned after the game – painful but not serious.”
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