suggests that both Liverpool duo Luis Diaz and could be fit enough to feature against on Saturday.
Liverpool travel to the Etihad for their first game back from the international and it’s a fixture that will prove pivotal in both the title and top-four races.
The Citizens are just eight points behind league leaders Arsenal as we enter the final part of the season, while the Reds are seven points behind fourth-placed Tottenham, though both sides have games in hand over their rivals.
Liverpool have the worst injury record of any Premier League team but they’ll need as many players fit and firing now with the City clash followed by games against and Arsenal.
So Klopp was happy to report in Friday’s pre-match press conference that forwards Diaz and Nunez are back in training following knee and ankle injuries respectively.
‘Luis is back in small parts of training. It’s fantastic to have him back, but he will not train today with us.
‘This week was the first step back into team training. Next week we will increase that. It looks really promising, we’re in the final stages.
‘Darwin couldn’t train for two or three days this week, but trained yesterday. He is back in contention.’
However, not all is well on the injury front, with Klopp adding: ‘Naby [Keita] is out. He came back with a muscle injury from the national team. We will see how long it takes.
‘Thiago [Alcantara] is in a good way, but is not part of team training yet. He will probably be part of next week’s training.
‘Rhys Williams has a little bit of something. We had stomach bugs here and there, but that stopped two days ago.’
City have their own injury problems to worry about, with Phil Foden out and , though Klopp says the news around the formidable striker hasn’t altered his preparations for the game.
He said: ‘When you prepare a game, you prepare all things to avoid the final pass – which is where Erling really comes into the game.
‘He is a proper striker, but they became champions without a striker. That’s how it is, you never know 100 per cent who can play.’
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