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Jurgen Klopp hopes Liverpool duo Thiago Alcantara and Naby Keita are back soon

Jurgen Klopp hopes Liverpool duo Thiago Alcantara and Naby Keita are back soon
© Reuters
Thiago injured his calf during last week's home victory against Crystal Palace and Naby Keita hurt his foot in the midweek Carabao Cup win at Norwich.

Jurgen Klopp does not expect Thiago Alcantara and Naby Keita to be sidelined for long after ruling them out of Saturday's Premier League game at Brentford.

Thiago sustained a calf injury during last week's home victory against Crystal Palace and fellow midfielder Keita hurt his foot in the midweek Carabao Cup win at Norwich.

On Thiago's injury, Klopp said: "It's not 100 per cent clear. It's a muscle in the calf. It's an issue, obviously. (He'll be back) after the international break probably. I don't think it would be anything earlier. We will have to see."

Keita was withdrawn at Carrow Road after catching his foot in the turf and Klopp added: "It's nothing really serious, but it keeps him out of the next game for sure, and maybe a little longer, we will have to see.

"It's nothing serious, but it's obviously painful and we have to see how we can deal with that."

Trent Alexander-Arnold, Roberto Firmino, James Milner and Neco Williams are all expected to return to contention for the trip to Brentford.

Klopp made clear his admiration for the newly-promoted London club, who sit ninth in the table after winning two of their first five games, against Arsenal and Wolves.

"The football they play is incredible," Klopp said. "The organisation they have is incredible, so Thomas (Frank) is obviously doing a brilliant job. Brentford is doing a brilliant job.

Naby Keita has been restricted to two Premier League starts this season
Naby Keita has been restricted to two Premier League starts this season (Joe Giddens/PA)

"How they recruit, how different they are, how they show with less money that it's really possible to create something special.

"It reminds me a lot of my time at Mainz when I was there because we had no money and had to be creative in the transfer market.

"Brentford have a chance against us, not just because it's football, but because of the football they play.

"They're an incredibly well-drilled football team, a 3-5-2. Everybody knows what to do, everybody is ready to make the extra yard."

Liverpool, joint-top with Chelsea, have conceded only one goal in their first five Premier League matches and Klopp attributed that to his squad's collective defensive mindset.

Klopp added: "Ali (goalkeeper Alisson) in moments, he's made brilliant saves, it's not that nobody has had shots on target against us, but yes, as a unit so far we have defended pretty well.

"Nobody wanted to hear it, but we have three new players, without buying them – Joel (Matip), Joe (Gomez) and Virgil (van Dijk).

"Against Crystal Palace, the last line we changed completely, they never played together before, but it's not about that, you just need a clear defending attitude and that's what we have."

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TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Liverpool119112161528
2Manchester CityMan City117222213923
3Chelsea115422113819
4Arsenal115421812619
5Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest115421510519
6Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton115421915419
7Fulham115331613318
8Newcastle UnitedNewcastle115331311218
9Aston Villa115331717018
10Tottenham HotspurSpurs1151523131016
11Brentford115152222016
12Bournemouth114341515015
13Manchester UnitedMan Utd114341212015
14West Ham UnitedWest Ham113351319-612
15Leicester CityLeicester112451421-710
16Everton112451017-710
17Ipswich TownIpswich111551222-108
18Crystal Palace11146815-77
19Wolverhampton WanderersWolves111371627-116
20Southampton11119721-144


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