Liverpool team news ahead of Leicester City as Jurgen Klopp confirms two absentees

Jurgen Klopp has announced that two senior players will miss the Premier League fixture with Leicester City on Thursday evening.

The Reds will be looking to make it five straight wins in all competitions when they welcome Brendan Rodgers’ side to Anfield for the second time this season.

The Reds beat the Foxes on penalties in the Carabao Cup quarter-final in December but lost 1-0 away to the same opponents a few days later in the Premier League.

Liverpool will be looking to close the gap between themselves and league leaders Manchester City with a victory this time.

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Ahead of the game, Klopp confirmed that Sadio Mane and Jordan Henderson will be unavailable for the fixture, but Mohamed Salah is in contention after training on Tuesday and Wednesday.

“Sadio is not back yet. We said it’s such a big thing for Senegal and we didn’t want to stress anyone there by bringing Sadio back. I think it will be tonight that he is back,” Klopp said.

“He [Salah] is happy to be back but is disappointed as well. Yesterday everyone could see that he still has the final in his mind.”

With the return of his two attackers, Klopp was asked about having a fully fit squad ahead of a run of six games in 18 days.

“It should be. We had a full squad in August? I cannot remember any time that happened, so I don’t speak about it too much,” he continued.

“Hendo [Henderson] has a bit of a back problem, Sadio not here, but neither issue long term. We have to use that quality now.”

Four competitions and Leicester’s dangers

The game on Thursday is the start of another busy period for Klopp’s side, with Liverpool playing in three competitions in 18 days, including the Carabao Cup final at Wembley against Chelsea.

Liverpool still have a chance of catching City in Premier League title race, with one game in hand and a tasty contest at the Etihad in April coming up.

“It’s not very likely [to win all four] but we are not here today to know what will happen in May. Leicester is, for us, the next big challenge,” the Liverpool boss said.

“We want to squeeze everything out of this season. We have to accept we may not get everything as a reward.”

Leicester travel to Anfield hoping for a positive reaction from Sunday’s humiliation against rivals Nottingham Forest in the FA Cup on Sunday and Klopp isn’t taking their bad form for granted.

“They have an extreme threat on counter threats and balls in behind with whoever is playing,” he said.

“It will be a proper football game and it’s Anfield - we should not forget that. We should try and create a special atmosphere.”

“We have 12 games until the next break so we need to create atmospheres on the highest level and Thursday night is a good night to do that.”