Jurgen Klopp on Dominik Szoboszlai’s fitness as the Liverpool midfielder aims to make his first start since January on Thursday
Jurgen Klopp was coy on his plans for Dominik Szoboszlai against Sparta Prague on Thursday with the Liverpool midfielder in line for his first start since late January.
Szoboszlai has been blighted by muscle injuries since the turn of the year and has played just four of his 29 games for the club since New Year’s Day, picking up an problem in the 4-2 victory over Newcastle United before suffering a setback at the end of that month in the 4-1 win against Chelsea.
The No.8 returned after over a month out in Saturday’s 1-0 triumph at Nottingham Forest, emerging as a second-half substitute for Harvey Elliott at the City Ground with 15 minutes of normal time remaining.
The comeback is a timely boost for the Premier League leaders with Manchester City to visit Anfield on Sunday in a top-of-the-table clash but Klopp steered clear of detailing how Szoboszlai will be used in Prague on Thursday evening.
“You might be surprised but we don’t talk about line-ups in these press conferences,” Klopp said. “It is good that he is back. He loves playing football and being injured is tough, tough, tough.
“It was not an injury that was painful every day but he was not allowed to train properly so that’s the reason we had to be careful.
“All the medical advice told us to wait and that’s what we did. Now he’s back and played a few minutes and is in the squad. Whether he will play we will see.
Klopp also dismissed claims that Liverpool’s schedule leaves them vulnerable to complacency for the game against Sparta, despite that visit from Man City and a meeting with Manchester United in the quarter-final of the FA Cup at Old Trafford on March 17.
Klopp added: “This is the only game we play tomorrow, so it’s the most important game we have. We don’t make any difference. We wouldn’t have won the League Cup or the last eight of the FA Cup or still in the Europa League if we prioritise a competition. We never did.
“Maybe it would be smart to do it, but I don’t know how. I am a bit dumb so I don’t know how to do that. We go with each game with all we have and hopefully you will see that tomorrow, that is the target.”
