Jurgen Klopp used Friday afternoon’s press conference to confirm the fitness of full-back pairing Andy Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold, ahead of tomorrow’s crunch clash with Spurs.
The duo were blighted by fitness concerns in the week, as Alexander-Arnold missed the Genk tie altogether, while Andy Robertson was replaced at the hour mark. The news comes as a boost to manager Jurgen Klopp, who was otherwise facing the prospect of the pair being unavailable for tomorrow’s tie against last season’s Champions League final opponents.
The German boss confirmed that Alexender-Arnold’s midweek absence was primarily due to a virus, which the England international has now recovered from. Regarding the right-back, Klopp told the media:
“Trent is fine. Or looked fine, if there is no setback. He was ill – ill enough to not travel with us, which is not a good sign, but yesterday he had a clearing session and if it is as it was yesterday then he should be fine”
On Robertson, the gaffer was quick to assure fans that the Scots early substitution against Genk was purely to rest the left-back, rather than being for anything more serious.
“Yeah, we just rested Robbo,” Jürgen Klopp explained on Friday afternoon.
“We thought that’s enough for today [against Genk on Wednesday], 60 minutes. He could do it and did it. He is fine”.
What we think
The news of Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson’s fitness will come as a big boost, as they’ve both already managed to produce three assists each across all competitions. Also, they currently find themselves in the top five Liverpool players for interceptions this season (1.4 and 1.7 respectively), which could come in handy for the Reds as they look to stop a Spurs side who managed to put five past Crvena Zvezda last time out.