Liverpool land triple boost ahead of Man Utd clash as six players absent from training

Liverpool have been going through their preparations for Sunday’s crunch clash against Manchester United at Anfield.

The Reds are aiming for a fourth victory in five Premier League games in their late bid for a top-four finish. They beat Wolves 2-0 earlier this week but face a United side who are in rampant form, having recently been crowned Carabao Cup champions.

The club have uploaded photos of today’s session from the AXA Training Centre - with three players who featured seemingly not involved.

Virgil van Dijk, Ibrahima Konate and Diogo Jota could not be spotted. Yet their absences may be down to their recent returns from injury and are being carefully managed.

Jota is not long back from a calf problem that sidelined him for the best part of four months.

Van Dijk, meanwhile, was absent for a month with a hamstring issue. The defender, who opened the scoring against Wolves, recently admitted he’s probably played too many games this season.

Konate had a hamstring issue of his own that forced him out of five games. He made his playing return in the Wolves victory.

Speaking at his pre-match press conference, Jurgen Klopp confirmed that - at that point - Liverpool had no new injury issues. The Reds boss said: “When I met them last they were all good, I assume that’s still the case. Physically they should be fine, mentally they should be fine. We won the last game so why shouldn’t we be? Nothing to moan about.”

Meanwhile, Naby Keita was back in training after missing the Wolves game with a knock.

Curtis Jones’ absence from the squad was unexplained. However, the midfielder indeed was spotted in the session.

As was Nat Phillips, who hasn’t been involved in the previous three games. The centre-back was not seen in training before the 5-2 Champions League loss to Real Madrid.

Luis Diaz continued his rehab as he closes in on a return from a long-term knee injury. The winger hasn’t played since October.

However, Thiago Alcantara (hip) and Joe Gomez (hamstring) are still out while Calvin Ramsay’s campaign is over after having surgery.