The manager of Liverpool, Jurgen Klopp, affirms that forward Mohamed Salah is prepared to begin the match when the Reds face Sparta Prague in the second leg of their Europa League last-16 fixture on Thursday.
Since January 1st, Salah has not been in Liverpool’s starting lineup due to a hamstring injury sustained while playing for Egypt in the Africa Cup of Nations.
Liverpool currently leads 5-1 after securing a dominant victory in the Czech Republic.
“It’s super important we build up Mo, he’s ready, top fit,” said Klopp.
“I’m not sure he’s ready for 90 minutes, I’m not sure we should do 90 minutes, but he’s ready to start.
“He would’ve been ready to start the last game [the 1-1 draw with Manchester City] but you don’t know how long it would’ve made sense for and that’s always the problem when players come back.
“There are 10 more Premier League games and hopefully more European and cup games, and they are as important.
“Mo usually can play game after game, now he was out for a surprisingly long time. He’s back and we have to make sure we can really count on him consistently.”
Since January 1st, Salah has not been in Liverpool’s starting lineup due to a hamstring injury sustained while playing for Egypt in the Africa Cup of Nations.
Liverpool currently leads 5-1 after securing a dominant victory in the Czech Republic.
Salah, the leading scorer for the club this season with 19 goals, suffered a hamstring injury during Egypt’s 2-2 draw with Ghana in January’s Africa Cup of Nations match.
He made a substitute appearance and scored in Liverpool’s 4-1 victory against Brentford on February 17th but then missed the following four matches, including the Carabao Cup final triumph over Chelsea.
In the first-leg win over Sparta Prague, Salah played the final 16 minutes of regulation time and injury time. Liverpool dominated with goals from Darwin Nunez, Alexis Mac Allister, Luis Diaz, and Dominik Szoboszlai, placing them in a commanding position ahead of the second leg at Anfield.
Despite their significant lead, Klopp remains cautious and does not underestimate their opponents.
“I’m absolutely on my toes for this and we have to make sure everyone is the same,” said Klopp.
“We have to ignore the result, but not the performance. Performance-wise they had massive chances against us and they caused us massive problems in moments.
“Caoimhin [Kelleher] had to make some outstanding saves and that’s in my mind, not how we scored the goals because that was individual quality.
“We need to keep the rhythm going and not think about the next game on Sunday when the opponent is Manchester United.”
Liverpool are second in the Premier League and also in the FA Cup quarter-finals as they look to add more silverware after their Carabao Cup triumph.
But Klopp, who will be leaving the club in the summer, is only focused on the next match.
“It’s a long run-in in all competitions,” he said. “We’re not close to the finish line, I can’t see the finish line, I just see Sparta Prague wants to put things right.
“We have to play a really good football game because it’s our home game, our stadium, our competition and we have wanted to make it our competition from the first day and want to go as far as possible.”