Liverpool has a clean bill of health heading into the new Premier League season with Arne Slot confirming there are no injuries for any of his players at the moment. The Reds travel to Ipswich Town on the opening day of the new campaign next Saturday.
Bobby Clark, The Athletic has reported, is now back in training again having recovered from a back problem. Amid wide-ranging interest in him from various clubs including Red Bull Salzburg, he was not involved in the double-header with Sevilla and Las Palmas on Sunday. Even if he doesn't end up leaving permanently, a loan would make sense for the player to get regular senior minutes.
Andy Robertson , meanwhile, made his first appearance of pre-season over the weekend, looking sharp as he captained the side in the second match of the day. The Scotland left-back sat out of the trip to the USA but is now back in contention again.
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"Ideally we would have had them from the start, all of them," Slot said during the press conference that followed the final friendlies of the summer. "Then, players like Virgil [van Dijk] and all the others that went off after 60, 70 minutes could have played the whole game.
"But I am pleased if you look at the situation. These players had to go on holiday; a lot of them came back really strong. And the ones I had from the start stayed fit for all the time. Yeah, pleased with the fitness level the team has, and also without injuries at the moment, and that is an important thing in pre-season."
Slot also confirmed that Sepp van den Berg wasn't used against either Sevilla or Las Palmas because his minutes were being managed rather than him being either injured or set to make a transfer exit. With so many other options available to select at center-back, the Dutchman will need to move away if he is to get the regular match action that he wants.
"That’s load management, the way we call it," Slot outlined. "And, of course, a player like Nat [Phillips], who is training with us for a long time, deserved to have some playing time as well.
"So, it’s a combination of a player who has already made a lot of minutes and we don’t want to take the risk of him getting injured — as we don’t want with anyone, but with him we thought it was best for him not to start today. That had all to do with load management — and that Nat also deserved to play today."
Liverpool.com says: Robertson looked ready to go when he played against Las Palmas, appearing to be sharp and not looking particularly rusty. Kostas Tsimikas has had a good summer and the pair could share the early minutes of the season given Slot will have five substitutes available to use in every fixture.
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