Liverpool takes on Italian side Atalanta in the Europa League quarter-final first leg. The Reds have been boosted by the returns to fitness of some key men.
Liverpool is back in European action on Thursday night as Atalanta make the visit to Anfield. The Reds remain in the hunt for the treble and the Europa League final could turn out to be the final match of the Jürgen Klopp era.
There is plenty of work to be done before that though, with Serie A side Atalanta lying in wait in the quarter finals. And Liverpool will know a positive first-leg result will be needed ahead of the return in Italy next week.
Liverpool does remain favorite to go on and win the competition having breezed through so far. But the visitors will be hopeful of causing an upset, having won 2-0 at Anfield in the Champions League back in 2020.
That match was played behind closed doors due to Covid-19 restrictions as a much-changed Liverpool side came unstuck. There will be a full house for this one, although Liverpool fans will stage a protest in the Kop over increased ticket prices.
There is some good news on the injury front for Klopp, with Trent Alexander-Arnold and Diogo Jota returning to training this week. The pair have been out of action since mid-February with knee problems but are in contention to feature.
Klopp also confirmed that No.1 goalkeeper Alisson is fit again but yet to join full training. He completed Wednesday’s session away from the rest of the group and isn’t expected to feature against Atalanta.
Meanwhile young midfielder Stefan Bajčetić will feature for the club’s Under-21s side before playing any first team action. Speaking in his pre-match press conference, Klopp said: “We didn’t rush it with the boys.
“You can but we didn’t, that means they did a lot of training by themselves, especially Diogo and Trent, [they] worked as a group for two or three weeks really properly training. It’s always a challenge trying to reintegrate the guys.
“With the quality they have it should be easier, and we will use them in the next days and weeks, but what it means for tomorrow I didn’t make a decision yet.” Here Liverpool.com brings you the full list of players available to the manager with Bajčetić not included as he trains with the Under-21s.
Goalkeepers: Caoimhín Kelleher, Adrián, Fabian Mrozek.
Defenders: Virgil van Dijk, Joe Gomez, Ibrahima Konaté, Jarell Quansah, Kostas Tsimikas, Conor Bradley, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Andy Robertson.
Midfielders:Alexis Mac Allister, Dominik Szoboszlai, Harvey Elliott, Wataru Endō, Ryan Gravenberch, Curtis Jones, James McConnell.
Forwards:Mohamed Salah, Darwin Núñez,Luis Díaz,Cody Gakpo, Diogo Jota, Kaide Gordon, Lewis Koumas, Jayden Danns.
Players who are injured: Alisson Becker, Thiago Alcântara, Joël Matip, Ben Doak.
