Have to be patient with Joe Gomez and Virgil Van Dijk, asserts Jurgen Klopp

It means that both Van Dijk and Gomez will not figure in too many pre-season friendlies, with the next of those against Hertha Berlin on Thursday, and two centre-halves that have worked their way back from knee ligament damage are being eased back into the fold by Jurgen Klopp. It saw the German boss admit to exercising restrain while making use of both defenders and he has suggested that they will be eased into the team one by one keeping in mind the long season ahead.

"It would still be a surprise, unfortunately. But they look really good. Look, I think, they do everything, they play football, we keep them in training, we do the things we can do, they don’t too much and stuff like this. We just have to be patient – we prepare for a full season, not for a pre-season game. I will not risk it for a game here, so we have to see. We have a lot of games still coming, pre-season games, but I don’t see them being involved for the next one," Klopp said, reported by Goal.