Five Liverpool players not spotted in training ahead of Everton derby clash

Jurgen Klopp has a solid period on the training ground to prepare Liverpool for the Merseyside derby.

The Reds welcome Everton to Anfield on Monday evening (20.00 GMT) as the two bitter rivals go toe-to-toe for the city’s bragging rights. The reverse fixture at Goodison Park ended as a goalless draw in September.

Liverpool have been well below par this season and languish just 10th in the Premier League table. They head into the clash against Everton against the backdrop of a humbling 3-0 loss at Wolves.

But Klopp has nine days to prepare for the derby and photos from the AXA Training Centre yesterday showed several key players closing on a return to action. Diogo Jota hasn’t played since October due to a calf injury but has returned to full training - along with on-loan Juventus midfield Arthur Melo.

Meanwhile, key duo Virgil van Dijk (hamstring) and Roberto Firmino (calf) both appeared to join in with the warm-up as they work back towards full training. Fabinho is also back from illness.

But there were five players who could not be spotted with the rest of Klopp’s squad in pictures uploaded by Liverpool’s media team.

One of those was Thiago Alcantara. The midfielder played 85 minutes for Liverpool in the Wolves loss and has made 24 appearances in total this season.

Thiago had a spell out with a hamstring injury he sustained in the 2-2 draw against Fulham on the opening day of the season. Since then, however, he’s been unscathed. It could be that the Spain international is being managed by Klopp given the issues he’s had in the past. Thiago has started the past 10 games on the spin.

Ibrahima Konate seemingly remains unavailable. The centre-back picked up a hamstring issue in the 2-1 FA Cup loss to Brighton.

In addition, Fabio Carvalho was not snapped. The forward missed two games recently with a minor issue before returning to the bench against Wolves.

Ben Doak has made hurtling progress this season after signing from Celtic last summer. The 17-year-old’s been a regular on the bench since the restart of the season after the World Cup but has missed the past three games with a minor issue. Doak did post on Instagram earlier this week that he would be ‘back soon’.

Luis Diaz, meanwhile, continues his rehab for a long-term knee injury that’s kept him out since October. Diaz did make good progress but hit a setback during the training camp in Dubai while the World Cup was ongoing. The winger is back running outside and is expected to again be available next month.