Klopp Talk: Thiago and Henderson Close to Return

In his pre-match press conference ahead of this weekend’s game against Burnley, Jurgen Klopp offered some good news: the possible return of Jordan Henderson and Thiago to match fitness.

“They are much closer, yes. They look fine, now we have to make the decision”, he said.

“They looked really good in the game and looked good in the training week, so it’s up to me to make some decisions.”

On the pressing issue of Henderson’s contract, he added, “Still all good. Nothing to be concerned about.”

The news about Fabinho’s father’s death was met with an outpour of support from fans on social media and Klopp echoed that saying, “I would like to say it’s a private situation. Fab is here and is doing what he is able to do and that’s it pretty much.

“We all feel for him, we all feel with him and we give him and his family our condolences. We try to give him all the warmth, all the love we have in this moment and that’s it, the rest is private.”

On being reminded that Burnley ended Liverpool’s 68-match unbeaten Premier League home run at Anfield with a 1-0 win in January 2021, Klopp was unmoved, and indicated that that loss was not on their minds for this weekend.

“I didn’t even think about it. It was a strange one, yes we lost it, Burnley won it, well deserved. But it obviously has nothing to do with the game now. We will try everything to win our first home game in front of our crowd for 500-something days. We want to enjoy the fact that football can be enjoyed when you play in a positive way, and just go for it.”