Liverpool news LIVE: Alisson injury warning, Jurgen Klopp wants £54m Napoli transfer

Liverpool news LIVE updates: All the latest news, gossip and updates from Anfield

Thursday, September 12

• Liverpool have joined the battle for Napoli midfielder Fabian Ruiz

• Lorenzo Insigne and Arkadiusz Milik are injury doubts for Napoli

• Alisson may take longer to return from his calf injury than the club expect

• Leicester are monitoring Leicester playmaker James Maddison

Carra predicts

Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher believes Manchester City will be strong enough to retain their Premier League title.

“I think it’s a bit early yet,” Carragher said. “I think we’ve got to probably wait until Christmas.

“I do feel around about Christmas time Liverpool and City will have a substantial gap and it looks like there’s a little bit of a gap at this moment.

“But I still think City are favourites and are the best team in the Premier League at this moment because they won the Premier League and they proved that last season. So, I think it’s still on Liverpool to overtake City but they’re more than capable.”

New contract signed

Teenager Paul Glatzel has signed a new contract with Liverpool.

The 18-year-old forward netted 28 goals for the club’s academy side and was selected by Jurgen Klopp to join the senior side for pre-season training.

“It’s a great feeling obviously,” he told Liverpool’s official website.

“I’ve been at the club for so long and I just want to keep going and see where it takes me. Hopefully I can crack on now and keep going. The contract makes it easier.”

Wanted: Fabian Ruiz

Liverpool have joined the ever-growing list of suitors interested in Napoli midfielder Fabian Ruiz.

Barcelona and La Liga rivals Real Madrid were recently credited with interest in the Spain international.

Ruiz, 23, won the Player of the Tournament at the 2019 Under-21 European Championships and has been a mainstay for Carlo Ancelotti’s Napoli – making 42 appearances over the last two campaigns

Now, Calciomercato claim Jurgen Klopp wants the £54million-rated midfielder at Anfield.

Napoli injury blow

Liverpool are hoping to get their Champions League campaign off to a flier against Napoli.

The Reds will face Carlo Ancelotti’s side for a second successive campaign and if last year was anything to go by, the trip to the San Paolo will not be easy.

Jurgen Klopp’s side were beaten 1-0 by a 90th minute strike from Lorenzo Insigne in a blow to their knockout qualification hopes in last year’s group stage, though they went on to progress.

But there is good news for Liverpool this time around, with the Italian international being a doubt for Tuesday’s contest.

According to Football Italia, the star has been training alone ahead of the clash.

Football Italia are also reporting that Arkadiusz Milik is also set to miss the clash after suffering a setback.

Alisson’s a big lad…

Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson may take longer to return from his calf injury than the club expect because he is a “big lad”, according to former Chelsea midfielder Craig Burley.

Liverpool have confirmed Alisson is making steady progress in his recovery, with Adrian set to continue to deputise against Newcastle United this weekend.

But Burley has warned fans it may take a bit longer than they think for Alisson to return due to his strong body make-up.

“The problem is he’s a big lad and that’s a lot of tonnage going through those calves” Burley told ESPN FC. “Well yeah [it may take an extra couple of weeks], he’s a big old unit isn’t he.

“He’s like huge, you wouldn’t want to meet him in a dark alley, you know what I mean.

Ceballos in awe of Liverpool

Dani Ceballos has revealed that he was stunned by Liverpool’s performance during Arsenal’s recent defeat at Anfield.

The Real Madrid loanee played an hour of the 3-1 defeat that saw Mohamed Salah score twice and Joel Matip get on the scoresheet.

“I’ve never seen anything like what I saw at Anfield,” Ceballos told the Guardian. “I haven’t seen a team that plays better, that presses like them, the way the fans carry them along.

“They take the air from you. You spend so much time defending and when you want to do something with the ball, when you want to breathe, they’re back on top of you. They’re very well-drilled.”

Toon will be tough

Mohamed Salah is confident Liverpool will beat Newcastle on Saturday – but doesn’t think It’ll be easy.

Jurgen Klopp’s side face Newcastle at Anfield on Saturday afternoon at 12:30pm – four days before their Champions League trip to Napoli.

Speaking ahead of the game, Salah said: ” Newcastle is always tough home or away, the way they play. They have a good team and good players and a good coach. We just need to focus on ourselves and do our job.

“Last season we lost the Premier League by one point and just need to keep focusing on each game right now. We don’t need to lose any points.”

Lallana plan…

Liverpool midfielder Adam Lallana has been watching videos of Barcelona midfielder Frenkie de Jong.

The 31-year-old, who is now being deployed as a deep-lying midfielder, was told by Jordan Henderson to analyse De Jong to perfect the No.6 role.

“If you are in the ‘six’ you are centralised to the play, involved in the build-up a lot more. That is what I noticed straight away. That’s where the stimulation comes from – it feels good to be on the ball,” Lallana said.

“I have not gone into it too deeply. Jordan (Henderson) told me I need to watch Frenkie de Jong. The way he plays it, he kind of dribbles a little bit more than other sixes would, which obviously brings a bit of risk but that is in my game.”