Liverpool were put through their paces on Friday afternoon ahead of their Premier League clash against Newcastle United.
Jurgen Klopp granted his troops two days off after a 2-0 victory over Burnley on Boxing Day. And the Reds returned to the AXA Training Centre still top of the Premier League table after Arsenal suffered a 2-0 home loss against West Ham United.
Liverpool now aim to make the perfect start to 2024 when they welcome Newcastle to Anfield on New Year’s Day. While the Magpies have struggled of late, winning just one of their previous seven games, they displayed last season how much quality they have – as they dislodged the Reds from Champions League qualification.
Klopp will be hoping that Alexis Mac Allister can return from injury. The Argentina international has missed the past six games because of a cut to the knee he suffered in a 2-0 win at Sheffield United at the start of the month. Mac Allister was back in training, which is a positive sign, and could be included on the bench if given the green light by the medical team.
Speaking at his pre-match press conference, Klopp said: Macca, we will see what he can do today – if he can step into team training or not.
“The decision is not done yet, it’s pretty early and the Doc is not here; or maybe he is here but I didn’t see him yet. So, we will see.”
There were also several youngsters called up to the session to rub shoulders with Mac Allister, Mo Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Co – with Bobby Clark being one of them. The midfielder joined Liverpool from Newcastle in the summer of 2021 when aged 16 for a reported fee of £1.5 million.
Clark, the son of former Magpies midfielder Lee, is highly rated by Klopp and his coaching staff. The England youth international was handed a Premier League debut off the bench in a 9-0 thrashing of Bournemouth in August 2022 before making his full bow in a Carabao Cup victory over Derby County.
This campaign, Clark had an ankle injury that ruled him out for a period and limited any game-time he likely would have been handed in the Europa League group stage. Clark returned from his setback to score the winner for Liverpool under-21s in a 2-1 triumph over Chelsea earlier this month. He was also named on Klopp’s bench for the 1-1 draw against Arsenal and 5-1 Carabao Cup triumph over West Ham. – and was rewarded with a new long-term contract four days before Christmas.
Speaking after a 3-1 win over Aston Villa last season, Klopp said: “We brought on Ben Doak and we see in the first situation how ‘cheeky’ he is and we have others in the background,” said Klopp. “Bobby Clark, another famous name in England, and the kid is a really good player as well so the future is bright.”
Conor Bradley, Luke Chambers, Calum Scanlon, James McConnell, Tom Hill Kaide Gordon and Lewis Koumas were among the other fledgling talents who trained with the first team ahead of the Newcastle encounter.
