Landing in Germany yesterday with Philippe Coutinho in tow, Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp is preparing for the friendly with Bundesliga side Hertha Berlin at the weekend, but it sounds like he’ll have a hole or two in his squad with a number of players sidelined through injury.
“It was clear from the first day there’s a little bit of tendon involved, so that means that it’s around 10 days,” explained the German manager, revealing that vice-captain James Milner will sit out the entirety of their time on the continent. “This is maybe the longest Clyney has been out with a little bit of [an issue with] the back. We have to wait, time is running and we need Clyney of course,” continued Klopp, confirming that Nathaniel Clyne could also miss out before switching gears to goalkeeping duo Loris Karius and Danny Ward. “I am not 100 per cent sure [when they will be back]. Wardy is not too serious but it always takes its time, we will see how long it takes. Loris should be in tomorrow or the day after tomorrow at the latest, then we will have him back but it’s not too cool for the boys.”
With Milner sitting this one out, Liverpool will get a look at new boy Andy Robertson with the Scottish fullback set to be thrown straight in to the fire when the club line up against Hertha on Saturday — a match that will celebrate 125th anniversaries for both teams. Although they’re unlikely to get a run out, Reds attackers Sadio Mane and Danny Ings have both rejoined the team in full training and could very well see some minutes when the Audi Cup starts with the likes of Bayern Munich, Napoli and Atletico Madrid as potential opponents.
“It’s nice, you can see it,” enthused Klopp. “Sadio maybe does it that much but everyone can see it – and in Ingsy’s face, you can see he feels the difference. It’s very important,” explained the Reds manager, clearly excited to have both them back and available. “Robbo [Robertson] is here and that’s very good. It’s a good group and the attitude was brilliant since we started,” added the German. “That should be the same and we will use the time.”
