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Jürgen Klopp has a decision to make at right-back when Liverpool host Manchester City in the Premier League on Sunday.
The manager confirmed in preparation for the Anfield showdown that Trent Alexander-Arnold will not be involved due to a muscle problem that prevented him from playing in the 5-1 Champions League win over FC Porto.
vice-captain of the reds James milner replaced Alexander-Arnold in Portugal and is one of the options being considered as part of his former club visit.
“We all know Millie is a really special, special guy. He hates the job, pretty much – but for that, he plays quite a bit! Klopp told Liverpoolfc.com on Thursday.
“But we obviously have Joe [Gomez] also an option, Something [Williams] is back after an injury and all that stuff. I haven’t really thought about the line-up so far. We have important sessions.
“Today was just a second day of recovery for the boys who played in Porto, so tomorrow and the day after will be really important to get a sense of who is in better shape, who can face City.
“Now when I get home of course we do the analysis on City. We’ve played them quite often, but anyway you have to see if they’ve changed anything or not, and if they haven’t. not changed, how they do it at the time, it’s still interesting.
“I like when I have a little time to prepare it; if you play on Wednesdays and Saturdays for example, it’s just the recovery and it’s off again. Now we have those two more days, which is really good – for both teams obviously – and let’s give it a try. “
Thiago Alcantara remains on the sidelines due to a calf injury, while Harvey Elliott is absent for a long time following ankle surgery.
For City, meanwhile, Ilkay Gundogan and Oleksandr Zinchenko were excluded from the 4:30 p.m. BST kick-off at Anfield.
Pep Guardiola has not reported any further injury issues after his side’s Champions League efforts in midweek, which ended in a 2-0 loss to Paris Saint-Germain.
Ahead of the season’s first meeting between the sides that held the top two places in the Premier League this weekend, Guardiola discussed his battles with Klopp in recent years.
“He helped me. His teams and Jürgen helped me become a better manager,” said Guardiola. “He put me on another level, to think about it and prove that I am a better manager and to try to beat them.
“This is the reason why we are still in this business. Some managers challenge you to move you forward.
“We did it in Germany when we tried to face each other. Here in England we have been together for many years, in many competitions and we face it many times. Sometimes we win, sometimes we lose, but it’s good because both teams have the same idea: to score goals. They are faster than us but we are both trying to win the game.
Last match
FC Porto 1-5 Liverpool (September 28): Alisson, Milner, Van Dijk, Matip, Robertson, Fabinho, Henderson, Jones, Mane, Salah, Jota.
Paris Saint-Germain 2-0 Manchester city (September 28): Ederson, Walker, Cancelo, Dias, Laporte, Rodrigo, Bernardo, De Bruyne, Sterling, Grealish, Mahrez.
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