Philippe Coutinho missed Liverpool's victory over Huddersfield on Saturday with a muscle problem, while Dejan Lovren was named in the starting eleven but had to withdraw from the side after injuring himself in the warm-up, leaving both unlikely to feature against Maribor on Wednesday.

Liverpool boss Jürgen Klopp spoke in his pre-match press conference and said he had hoped both players would have been involved in today’s session at Melwood, but the pair did not take part in the group session which raises the concern that the duo are still unavailable for selection.

Not 100% sure

When asked about the player's fitness the German manager replied with: “I am not 100 percent sure. They are both much better but whether they will be ready for tomorrow, I don't know at this moment.

“We have to see. We have a session at 5pm and we will see who will be involved. I hope for both.

“If they will not train, especially in Dejan’s case, that does not mean he cannot play. In Dejan's case if he could train tonight and tomorrow, that would be enough."

However, Liverpool were pleased to see both Joe Gomez and Alberto Moreno return to training today and both players are likely to be involved in the clash against Maribor.

Klopp also said: “We have a few little things, Alberto (Moreno) had a cramp, Joe (Gomez) felt a little bit. So we were really careful the last few days. Tonight and especially tomorrow morning I will really think about the line-up.”

With the Reds looking to rotate the team from Saturday's victory against the Terriers the likes of Trent Alexander-Arnold, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Andy Robertson, Emre Can and Dominic Solanke could all come into the fold as Klopp has many players vying for starting positions.

“I never take risks with the line up,” the manager added. “If a player is playing, then he must be at 100 per cent. I will speak to the medical department. I don't think about rotation, I think about a 100% spot on team.

“We will line up tomorrow with the strongest possible line up.”

Sadio Mane set to resume light training later this week

Klopp also brought the media some much-needed news after confirming that things were looking "good" with the fitness of Sadio Mane, who has been sidelined with a hamstring issue. The Senegal international is expected to resume light training at Melwood later this week, and both he and Adam Lallana are in contention to return to action next month following the international break.

A victory for the Reds will put them in a strong place to finish top of Group E despite drawing their two opening games after being held to back-to-back stalemates against Sevilla and Spartak Moscow.

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About the author
Joshua Kerr
Third-year Sports Journalism student at Staffordshire University, contributing to Vavel UK since April 2017.