Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp offered an update on four players and their return date

Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp offeresan update on four players and their return date

Speaking to the media ahead of the Brighton game, as quoted by The Athletic (subscription required), Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp offered an update on the potential return date of four players – Virgil van Dijk, Diogo Jota, Arthur Melo and Roberto Firmino.

The German has confirmed that these four players could be back in team training by the second week of February. It would be a welcome boost for the squad ahead of the key league games and a Champions League last-16 tie against Real Madrid coming up.

Van Dijk picked up a hamstring earlier this month during the game against Brentford. Firmino hasn’t featured since the resumption of the season and Jota and Arthur are long-term absentees.

Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp offeresan update on four players and their return date. — Liverpool’s front-line will be bolstered by the return of Roberto Firmino and Diogo Jota next month. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)

Here’s what Klopp said regarding the return date of the players (h/t The Athletic):

“Luis [Diaz] takes longer, but Diogo, Bobby and Virgil, in a couple of weeks they’ll be part of training and then we’ll have to see how quickly it goes from there.

“I would say pretty good [on Arthur]. He’s running a lot. If everything is well then I think two or three weeks maybe until he can join team training.”

It was expected that Luis Diaz won’t come back in February. The Colombian had to have surgery on his knee in December, ruling him out for another two-three months. So, we might not see him in training before the middle of March at the least.

On the other hand, having Jota, Firmino and van Dijk back for the majority of this part of the campaign would be an excellent thing.

The trio can have a positive impact on the squad that can help them produce a set of results which might be enough for them to either win the Champions League or finish fourth.

As of now, we are 10 points behind that spot in the table with a game in hand. The injured players won’t be back for another three games, keeping the timeline in mind, two of those games being in the league.

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So, the players, who are currently fit and available, have to start delivering performances and wins to kickstart some sort of momentum with the key part of the season coming up.