Liverpool have ‘no idea’ about whether striker will be fit for Arsenal

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Daniel Sturridge is touch and go to be ready for Liverpool’s Premier League opener with Arsenal.

The striker missed this weekend’s friendlies against Barcelona and Mainz with a hip problem, and manager Jurgen Klopp says he’s in the dark about whether Sturridge will be ready in six days’ time.

“No idea. That’s a two word answer!” he said, when asked for one word on Sturridge’s fitness.

The forward has been plagued with injuries for the past two years, but since Klopp took over – specialised training regimes have helped the 26-year-old maintain his health.

The hip problem is not thought to be serious, but we can’t imagine Sturridge will be risked if he’s not 100%.

In his absence, Klopp will either use Divock Origi through the middle, or deploy Roberto Firmino as a false-9 – with Coutinho and Sadio Mane alongside him.

In fact, Sturridge may not have started away to the Gunners anyway – with Klopp often preferring Firmino up top against bigger sides…

Arsenal have some injury problems of their own, too. Arsene Wenger is without Laurent Koscielny, Gabriel and Per Mertesacker, so it’ll be mighty interesting to see who he uses at centre-back.

 

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