Klopp provides fitness update on Van Dijk, Alexander-Arnold and Wijnaldum ahead of Chelsea

Trent Alexander-Arnold and Georginio Wijnaldum are set to play against Chelsea tomorrow at Stamford Bridge in the Premier League, but there is still some doubt regarding Virgil van Dijk.

Both Alexander-Arnold and Wijnaldum have been ill, but have fully recovered. Van Dijk on the other hand is still feeling sore from a rib injury he sustained.

“Trent trained yesterday completely normal. It was not a knock, Trent was a bit ill, but yesterday that looked pretty good. Virgil we have to wait, he didn’t train with the team so far but I can’t say anything more about that. Gini trained as well, so all good,” said Klopp, as quoted by the official club website.

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LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND – AUGUST 07: Virgil van Dijk of Liverpool during the pre-season friendly match between Liverpool and Torino at Anfield on August 7, 2018 in Liverpool, England. (Photo by Jan Kruger/Getty Images)

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Klopp is confident that if the Dutchman is not available, the players in reserve can fill the void for the game.

“Virgil is a world-class player, there is no doubt about that, and if you miss a world-class player it is not cool. But Dejan Lovren made his first appearance after I would say around 10 weeks [on Wednesday],” said Klopp.

“Most of that time he was that injured that he couldn’t even think about training because when you have something in that part of your body you cannot do fitness, nothing. And after that long period, he played an outstanding game.

“Joel Matip, two games in a row, played fantastic. Both full-backs [Alberto Moreno and Nathaniel Clyne] didn’t play in the season so far, so we all get judged constantly but for the boys it’s much more important what I think about their performance than what you think about their performance. I can imagine people say ‘thank God all the others come back’, but these boys did a really good job.

“So, if Virgil is fit and can play then he will play, but if not then obviously we have options and that’s really good. His [Van Dijk’s] impact is always obvious, but we could play football before Virgil van Dijk and we can play without Virgil, thank God.

“But I prefer that he is fit and available and I can make decisions, if he needs a rest or not in one of the other games. For the last game he was not available but now we will see for tomorrow.”

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Source: anfieldhq.com