Jurgen Klopp offered good and bad news about Alisson’s injury as he looked ahead to Liverpool’s Community Shield clash with Man City on Saturday.
Here are five key points from the boss as he addressed the press on Thursday:
Do you want the good news or the bad news first?
We’ll start with the bad, Alisson won’t be fit for the Community Shield on Saturday or the Anfield friendly the following day.
However, the good news is that he will “definitely be available” for the opening day at Fulham after increasing his squad this week.
We have to wait for Alisson, then, meaning Adrian is the one expected to start at the King Power as he continues to rack up pre-season minutes.
Diogo Jota is nowhere near a return, with Klopp saying it will “take a while, unfortunately”.
Another friendly awaits, during the season
The Reds’ pre-season schedule has been condensed due to their involvement in the Champions League final and with the new World Cup campaign starting soon.
It means Klopp has tried to stretch pre-season into the season proper, confirming that another friendly has been arranged for the day after the trip to Fulham.
“We have to extend the pre-season into the season, we play City on Saturday and we play a friendly against Strasbourg on Sunday, then we play Fulham and the next day we play another game so we can extend the pre-season.”, explained Klopp.
“It’s what we have to do because from mid-August I think we’ll be playing every three days again. There’s no time to train anymore.”
The Echo reports that Steven Gerrard’s Aston Villa will be the opposition behind closed doors on August 7.
Bobby’s future
Roberto Firmino has seen his name linked with Juventus over the past week, but reports of a £19m deal have been denied by Merseyside reporters.
The Brazilian’s contract expires next summer and while Klopp praised Firmino’s influence in the team, he remained non-committal about the future of his No.9.
“Bobby is crucial for us. Bobby is the heart and soul of this team,” Klopp said.
“The way we’ve played in recent years was only possible thanks to Bobby and that’s why I’m really happy that he’s been able to train most of the pre-season so far.
“Everything looks great, I’m absolutely fine. For me, there is no doubt about its quality.
“Everything else, we’ll see how it goes this year. But yes, he is essential for us.”
He’s a player you never want to see go!
Klopp nails Community Shield prospect
The Community Shield is a glorified pre-season friendly that means nothing if you lose and something if you win, something that is not lost on the manager.
That it is against Man City raises the stakes in the eyes of those watching, but for Klopp, it is still part of the pre-season process that will see many players feature for the full 90 minutes for the first time this summer.
“Will Saturday’s game show a lot about the season? I expect two good teams, I saw last night, even when we lost, especially in the second half, I saw [us] in very good shape.
“Hopefully we can bring that on the pitch on Saturday as well, but of course it will be a challenge just to play 90 minutes, I’m not sure about the weather in England, but it can also be hot.
“If you win it, it’s a very important competition and if you lose it, it becomes less important.”
You hit the nail on the head Jurgen.
“We’ll have a lot of fun with him”
It’s early days but Fabio Carvalho has certainly caught the eye in his four pre-season appearances so far, giving fans a welcome glimpse of what to expect from him.
Klopp knows Liverpool will “have a lot of fun with him” but there is still a lot of work to do.
“He’s a technical player, he’s incredibly creative and we’ll have a lot of fun with him, no doubt.
“Fabio last night was good, but he can be much better. We need all these kinds of things. He is an open young man, the best addition for us.”
The 19-year-old has played 165 minutes in four pre-season games so far and will certainly feature at the weekend, the question is will it be mainly against City or Strasbourg?