Liverpool are pretty much back to full strength with the return of Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah as they prepare for their visit to Turf Moor on Sunday afternoon to face Burney
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Jurgen Klopp provides team news update ahead of Burnley clash
Sadio Mane returned to Liverpool training on Friday following his heroics at AFCON.
The winger scored the winning penalty in the final for Senega l to get the better of Egypt and his close friend Mohamed Salah.
Salah returned to action for Jurgen Klopp’s men on Thursday night in a 2-0 win over Leicester as he climbed off the bench for the host.
And Mane is set to follow suit this weekend as the Reds prepare for their visit to Turf Moor on Sunday afternoon to face Burnley.
Liverpool are pretty much back to full strength as they look to claw back Manchester City in the Premier League title race.
Here are five things we noticed from Friday’s session.
Mane returns
Sadio Mane returned from those AFCON celebrations on Wednesday evening and it was straight back to business on Friday.
The forward has been unusually quiet during the first half of the season as Salah and Diogo Jota have stolen the headlines, but he’ll be full of confidence after lifting a major tournament with his country.
Klopp will be hoping Mane will build on that momentum for the second half of the season because Liverpool will need all the help they can get to catch City.
He seemed to be extremely focused in his first session back but will be a late decision whether or not he features on Sunday.
In his pre-Burnley press conference, Klopp said: “Will Sadio be available? We have to find out. We will make a decision after training. Physically we have to see how the last few days were for him.”
Salah full of motivation
Salah had an extraordinary first half of the season, but the AFCON will leave a bitter taste in his mouth after coming so close to winning it all.
The Egyptian can’t dwell on it too long, however, as Liverpool will need him to keep up the form he was producing at the end of 2021.
Klopp will be hoping Salah can use the disappointment as motivation to keep hitting those levels and it seemed that’s what he was doing during his cameo appearance against Leicester.
Salah was unlucky not to get on the scoresheet as he smacked the crossbar and was a constant threat down the right-hand side.
Salah and Mane might have been rivals last weekend but it seems like they were able to put that to one side as they linked up in training on Friday.
Henderson boost
Jordan Henderson managed 78 minutes of Sunday’s 3-1 FA Cup win over Cardiff City before being forced off with a back injury at Anfield.
Henderson then missed out on the victory over Leicester in midweek, but Klopp has confirmed that it isn’t a serious or long-term injury, and will hopefully be back in contention for Sunday’s visit to Burnley.
Klopp said: “Hendo will be back. If nothing happens, he will play on Sunday.”
And that should come to fruition as he was putting himself about in training and looked sharp as ever.
Henderson is an integral part of Liverpool’s midfield and they’ll need him to stay fit the rest of the way.
Origi fit and firing
All of a sudden, Liverpool are coming back to full strength as Divock Origi is also getting ever closer to a return to first-team action following a knee injury he sustained in December.
Origi has been back in training with the Reds but has yet to feature in the last two squads following the return from the winter break.
The 26-year-old is now fit and available for selection for this weekend’s game at Turf Moor, however.
Origi is one of the best super subs in the Premier League and the Belgian’s return will be a welcome boost to Klopp.
Gomez grafting
Joe Gomez is another player who is available this weekend.
The defender has been absent from the past two Liverpool squads after testing positive for Covid-19 and going into a period of self-isolation.
But Gomez has been back in training this week and is fit enough to be selected against Burnley.
Klopp confirmed: “Divock and Joe weren’t injured (on Thursday). With Joe we had to decide if we wanted a second centre-half on the bench.”
Virgil van Dijk and Joel Matip have formed a brilliant partnership at the back this season, but Gomez will be confident he can fight for a place alongside the Dutchman.
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