Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp today confirmed he should have a fully fit squad as they challenge on all fronts.
After helping Senegal to the AFCON title against Egypt and teammate Mo Salah, Sadio Mane has been celebrating their success in his home country.
So he is unavailable for the Premier League match against Leicester City tomorrow and Klopp confirmed Jordan Henderson is also a doubt with a back issue.
Otherwise, Liverpool have a full-strength squad, a situation Klopp has not been in too often in his time at Anfield.
He said: “I can’t actually remember any time in my career [where I’ve had no injuries] so I’m really cautious about talking about it.
“We have to use that, that’s our responsibility now.
“We obviously have quality but in life it’s always the same. It’s not important whose playing, it’s important how we play.”
There were some injury concerns surrounding new signing Luis Diaz but Klopp confirmed he is fine.
When asked how Diaz has settled in and what he’s learnt about him so far, Klopp added: “He’s a really nice guy, I liked a lot his contribution when he came on in the Cardiff game and from there we go.
“Yesterday he had a normal session, he enjoyed a lot.
“I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a football player smiling that much!
“I think we could see very naturally he fitted in the game, positionally wise [he] played exactly like what we wanted him to play but that’s just a starting point, [there’s] a lot more to come.”
Looking ahead to an important game tomorrow in the Premier League, Klopp admits Leicester have a strong team despite their current poor form.
He said: “There’s no worries but of course, we have to be clear about a few things about Leicester.
“It’s not about where they are in the table, how their season is going, they have an absolutely quality side.
“They want to respond and obviously not a good cup game, the way they lost. But as a manager, you want to respond and the response now would be to play a great game against Liverpool.”
Leicester beat Liverpool 1-0 in December in a shock Premier League result and Klopp believes his side were at fault for that defeat, despite Leicester playing a style of football that made life challenging.
He said: “They played a specific style, specific system against us that was maybe not the plan for them but it worked out pretty well.
“They played a diamond against us and it was our fault it didn’t work out that well in the league game.”
On Salah’s disappointment at Egypt’s penalty shootout defeat to Senegal, Klopp was sympathetic towards his star player.
He said: “[He was] very disappointed obviously.
“It was a massive thing and I think losing a final is always really hard. But losing the way they lost it is especially hard.
“He is happy to be back but he is disappointed as well.
“So we spoke obviously about the tournament and I hope today he will already [be] better but yesterday everyone could see he still has the final on his mind.”
