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Liverpool star Thiago assessed ahead of Champions League after 'proper knock' against Everton, reveals Klopp

Jurgen Klopp has revealed that Thiago will be assessed ahead of Liverpool's Champions League opener after sustaining a "proper knock" against Everton.

Liverpool welcomed a £20 million ($26m) summer signing back into the fold after his recovery from coronavirus when they took in the short trip to Goodison Park for the Merseyside derby on Saturday.

The former Bayern Munich star played the full 90 minutes of the 2-2 draw, but suffered a knee injury in stoppage time after being cut down by Richarlison in midfield - with the Brazilian subsequently shown a red card for the late challenge.

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The Reds had already seen Virgil van Dijk hobble off in the first half after an equally poor tackle from Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford, with the Dutchman now set to undergo surgery on cruciate ligament issue, but Klopp does not expect Thiago to be out of action for long.

The German boss has, however, admitted the 29-year-old may have to sit out a Champions League group stage encounter against Ajax at Johan Cruyff ArenA if he doesn't make a full recovery by Wednesday.

“So, yes, he got a knock, a proper knock,” Klopp told a pre-match press conference of Thiago's condition. “All the rest, we have to see. It’s not even close to being as serious [as Virgil van Dijk].

"But will he be ready for Wednesday? I don’t know yet. We will see.”

Naby Keita was also struck down with Covid-19 earlier this month, but could be in line to return in midweek after testing negative during the latest round of medical checks at Melwood.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Alisson won't be available as they continue to make their way back from respective injuries, but Klopp gave a positive update on all three men when asked to discuss their progress.

“All good, really good,” he said of a prized trio. “Naby trained yesterday, so that’s very positive. Oxlade is obviously in a long-term rehab, but looks good and is in a good mood usually.

"Ali looks very good. We have to see; catching balls and stuff like this is all possible. But we cannot rush it and will not rush it.

“Actually, it’s a common thing every day when I see Ali, I say: ‘How was it today?’ He always with a big smile tells me of the slight improvements. Today I didn’t see him [yet], so I can’t wait to ask for his progress!”

Klopp added on Keita's energy levels after coming out of self-isolation: “We are still learning, we are all learning about these kinds of things when a boy is completely without symptoms, which Naby was.

“He looked very good yesterday in training, to be honest. But I don’t know how he looks today, how he reacted – that’s much more important then. So, we will see.

“In the moment, I would probably rather expect him to be involved but I don’t know it.”

The Liverpool boss also insisted that he will make a final decision on his starting XI at the last minute due to the quick turnaround between domestic and European competition.

"It’s pretty early after the Everton game, there are always concerns,” he said. “The game was really intense again, for different reasons.

“Pretty much everybody had a knock, but we will see; today is now second-day recovery for most. In this moment, nobody came to me and said all the rest is out or all the rest is in.

“Always we use this day for analysis, coaches’ analysis, and second-day recovery for the boys. We have it, because if we played on Tuesday we don’t have it and we [would] have to train today properly, but today we do it exactly like this.

"And tomorrow we need to have then all the information and then we make a line-up.”

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