Jurgen Klopp has teased a possible selection hint for Liverpool’s Europa League clash against Sparta Prague at Anfield on Thursday night.
The Reds are all but through to the quarter-finals after winning 5-1 in the Czech capital last week, barring a catastrophic collapse in the second leg at home.
Mo Salah has come off the bench in our last two matches as he eases his way back into the team following his recent muscle injury, but he could possibly be in line to start tomorrow, albeit with the caveat that he wouldn’t be ready for a full 90-minute appearance.
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Speaking to the press this lunchtime ahead of the match against Sparta, Klopp said of the 31-year-old (via Liverpool Echo): “He’s ready to start but I’m not sure if he should do 90 minutes. He could have started the last game, but I’m not sure for how long. I’ve never had a game where I’ve thought, ‘Ah good, Mo Salah is not playing’.
“If he gets 90 minutes, it depends how it looks in the game. He can normally play game after game but he was out for an unusually long time. We have to make sure we can rely on him consistently again.”
On the one hand, Klopp might wish to include Salah in the starting XI tomorrow night to give him further minutes upon his return from that injury and build momentum ahead of the run-in to the season.
On the other, it’d seem needlessly risky to start him in a match with comparatively little riding on it, given Liverpool’s hugely comfortable position in the Europa League tie.
It’s the FA Cup visit to Old Trafford on Sunday, and of course the post-Easter sprint to the finish line amid a possible quadruple pursuit, for which we’ll need the Egyptian King fully primed and at the peak of his powers.
Salah’s elite professionalism and insatiable appetite for goals will see him clamouring to be included in the line-up tomorrow night, but given the horrific luck we’ve had on the injury front over the past couple of months, Klopp can’t afford to take any risks when they’re not needed.
We’d lean towards the 31-year-old not starting against Sparta, and only being on the bench in case of emergency, but we have every faith in the manager to make the decision that he feels is best for the player, and of course the team as a whole.