Liverpool re-open training ground ahead of Shrewsbury FA Cup clash
Liverpool have reopened their first-team training centre after a 48-hour closure following a Covid outbreak among players and staff.
Preparations for Sunday’s FA Cup third round tie at home to League One side Shrewsbury will resume with assistant manager Peter Krawietz taking charge of the available players.
Big Weekend: Nott’m Forest v Arsenal, Tshimanga, Liverpool
Krawietz will also undertake pre-match media duties with a press conference scheduled for 1pm on Saturday.
As the shutdown affected only the first-team area of the AXA complex, Liverpool’s youth teams have been able to continue training, with a number of the under-23s expected to feature against the Shrews.
Manager Jurgen Klopp and players Alisson Becker, Joel Matip and Roberto Firmino will have ended their isolation periods by the weekend, although it has yet to be confirmed whether any will be present at Anfield for the match.
Klopp’s other assistant manager Pep Lijnders is still absent, however, after testing positive on Tuesday night, with a number of other players and staff also remaining in isolation.
We can confirm the first-team facilities at AXA Training Centre have now reopened.
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) January 7, 2022
Thursday’s Carabao Cup semi-final first leg against Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium was postponed due to significant availability issues and subsequent closure of first-team training, but has been rearranged for January 20.
In a statement Liverpool said: “After consultation with the relevant public health authority, operations have now resumed within the first-team set-up at the training ground.”
Meanwhile, Liverpool winger Sadio Mane, who is away on international duty with Senegal for the African Cup of Nations, has revealed he would trade it all for success with his country.
Mane lost the AFCON final with Senegal in 2019, but claimed in an advert for New Balance that “this is my time” and he “would trade it all” for the title.
“When I was a kid, they called me Ballonbuwa (ball wizard), but I was always more of a Gaynde (lion): ruthless, explosive, a hunter.
“I have been hunting my whole career, but no matter what I have caught – I am still hungry.
“My people have waited a long time. I would trade it all to win this one. This is my time. The Lion roars.”
