Four things spotted from Liverpool training - as five midfielders absent ahead of Napoli

Liverpool have been finalising their preparations ahead of their 2022-23 Champions League curtain-raiser.

The Reds face Napoli in Group A at the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium tomorrow (20.00 BST).

Jurgen Klopp’s men have been put through their paces at the AXA Training Centre before flying out to Italy later today.

Here’s what we spotted from training.

Thiago back

Klopp revealed last week that Thiago Alcantara was due to return to training on Monday.

The midfielder hasn’t been available since limping off in the 2-2 draw at Fulham on the opening day of the Premier League season.

But Thiago did join in the session with the rest of his team-mates to give Liverpool a big boost.

Now Klopp has to weigh up whether to hand the Spaniard an immediate return to his starting line-up or act with caution.

The Reda already have issues in the middle of the park with Naby Keita and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain unavailable.

The pair have not been registered in Liverpool’s Champions League squad due to their ongoing injury problems.

No Carvalho

In addition, there was no sign of Fabio Carvalho.

The midfielder suffered knee swelling in Saturday’s Merseyside derby draw against Everton.

Carvalho was withdrawn at half-time and Klopp was hopeful the 20-year-old’s issue wasn’t too serious after the game.

It’s not to say Carvalho won’t be available against Napoli. Liverpool may be managing him carefully.

But his issue was clearly enough to make him miss training.

Jones absence

A surprising absentee from training was Curtis Jones.

The homegrown midfielder recently returned from a calf injury and has been left on the bench in the past two games.

But Jones was not spotted in Kirkby.

Neither was captain Jordan Henderson, who continues to struggle with a hamstring problem. No official time frame has been given but reports suggest Henderson will be on the treatment table for three weeks.

Calvin Ramsay, who signed from Aberdeen in the summer was also absent.

Nineteen outfield players in total trained, with youngsters Stefan Bajcetic, Melkamu Frauendorf and Isaac Mabaya included.

Potential Arthur debut

With five midfielders all unavailable to train, it opens up the potential of a debut for Arthur Melo against Napoli.

The Brazil international was signed on a season-long loan from Juventus last week and was an unused substitute against Everton.

But with numbers potentially depleted, Arthur could well be in line to make his bow as he was in training.

Indeed, Napoli will be a familiar opponent having plied his trade in Serie A for the past two seasons.

He also has plenty of Champions League experience with Juve and Barcelona.