Jürgen Klopp Gives an Update on Alisson and Naby Keita Recovery Plans

The international break didn’t return any of Jürgen Klopp’s players broken this time. So, the Liverpool manager has plenty of options for Saturday’s match against Newcastle. Unfortunately, a couple of key players remain on the sidelines who we had hoped would be available at this point.

Alisson and Naby Keita are both on slow recovery plans at Melwood. Klopp and the medical team aren’t taking any chances with rushing either player back into action.

Alisson did some damage to his calf during the opening match against Norwich City. The Brazilian didn’t finish the first half and Adrián was thrust into action after having only signed with the club a few days before. The Spaniard is set to continue between the posts for a while longer with Klopp confirming that Alisson is still some ways off from a return to the pitch.

“He’s improving but we can’t put any pressure on him,” said Klopp. “It was a really serious injury in the calf. It’s now much better, of course. That’s good for us, good for him. But we don’t know exactly.

“There’s no pressure and hopefully everything will be fine for the rest of the season. That’s the plan.”

Naby Keita has been in and out of availability since arriving in Liverpool. The Guinean midfielder’s time on Merseyside has been fraught with injuries. He’s barely had time to build up any rhythm. Now, like Alisson, Keita isn’t being pushed ahead into action.

“Naby is close, much closer than Ali,” Klopp said. “I think he could be in training when we come back from Napoli next week.”

There’s no need to rush the player when Liverpool have an assortment of midfielders for Klopp to call on for the coming games. Jordan Henderson, Fabinho, Gini Wijnaldum, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, James Milner, Xherdan Shaqiri, and Adam Lallana are all available.

It’s a good approach from the club to give Alisson and Naby Keita the extended recovery times that their injuries require. The short term is covered. Klopp is looking ahead to the thick of it when he’ll need all of his top players in impeccable working order.