Jurgen Klopp has already said what Liverpool can expect from Luis Diaz ahead of injury return

Liverpool are hopeful of landing a huge boost for the final nine matches of the 2022-23 season.

The Reds’ chances of finishing in the Premier League top four appear highly unlikely. Having been expected to challenge for silverware yet again, Jurgen Klopp’s side have instead struggled throughout. Despite showing fighting back from two goals behind to earn a 2-2 draw against leaders Arsenal, it left Liverpool eighth in the table and nine points outside the Champions League spots.

Still, Klopp has insisted that the Reds won’t down tools at the business end of the campaign. And with qualification for the Europa League hardly guaranteed, a strong finish is paramount.

Liverpool travel to Leeds United next time out - and Luis Diaz is on track to be back in the squad. The winger made a scintillating impact after arriving from Porto for an initial fee of £37 million in January 2022. He’s recorded 10 goals and six assists in 38 appearances so far and when fit, the spot on the left flank of Klopp’s attack has very much been the Colombia international’s.

Yet Diaz sustained a devastating knee injury in the first half of the Reds’ 3-2 loss at Arsenal last October. Since then, he’s been unavailable and suffered a setback during a training camp in Dubai in December while the World Cup was ongoing.

But the 26-year-old has been back in training, with Klopp confirming after the draw against Arsenal that Diaz should be back involved in full sessions this week. There’s no doubt that the tenacious wide man will lift both the spirit of his team-mates - and the potency of Liverpool’s front line.

After joining from Porto, Diaz swiftly lit the touchpaper to his Anfield career. There was no period of acclimatisation, unlike so many signings before him. He was an instant hit. As the Reds pushed for an unprecedented quadruple in the second half of last term, Sadio Mane was moved into a central role to accomodate Diaz.

However, given the severity of his injury, Klopp admitted at the end of February he’s unsure how long it’ll take for Diaz to again hit his apogee. The Liverpool manager told reporters: “It’s a different situation to [when he came in] last year; he came here [and] he [had] played all of the games for Porto pretty much. Now he is out with an injury for the second time.

“I can tell you the two sessions he had with us in Dubai at the training camp it was like, ‘Oh my god, how good is that?’ Then he was injured again. When he’s back he will be really good and very impactful, of course. That’s clear, [but] how quickly I don’t know. We have to see, that’s the big challenge in these moments – there’s no time for being patient but you have to be patient.”

Should Diaz have an untroubled week of training, a spot on the bench against struggling Leeds is likely. But how long until he’s again a regular starter and running amok is another matter.