Jurgen Klopp to miss Chelsea vs Liverpool after testing positive for Covid-19

Klopp’s assistant Pep Lijnders will lead the team into the crunch fixture Stamford Bridge

Jurgen Klopp will miss Liverpool’s crucial match at Chelsea on Sunday after testing positive for Covid-19.

The Liverpool manager is experiencing mild symptoms and now joins the list of three staff members and three players who have tested positive this week.

In Friday’s press conference Klopp did not reveal who had tested positive but hinted the cases would affect his first XI for the game at Stamford Bridge between second and third in the Premier League. “It’s not so cool at the moment,” Klopp said. “I’m not able to say who it is but it’ll be pretty clear on the team sheet.”

Klopp’s assistant Pep Lijnders will lead the team into the crunch fixture. Liverpool are one point behind second-placed Chelsea with a game in hand.

Liverpool were hampered by a small outbreak at the club earlier this month which saw key defender Virgil van Dijk among those to test positive. Now there are fresh cases but Klopp said the situation was at an extent where the club would request the match be postponed.

“We never had this proper outbreak where 15 to 20 players had it,” Klopp said. “For us it is every day, another one, stuff happens more and more often. It’s like a lottery in the morning, waiting for the result. It is pretty much day-by-day, always one case, then another one.

“We have to wait as the boys are not in yet. In this moment [we will] probably not [ask for a postponement] but we don’t know how it will look in a few hours.”

Klopp also confirmed that midfielders Thiago Alcantara and Takumi Minamino are both out of Chelsea game. “Taki is closer, running outside, Thiago not – it’s a hip issue. We have to be patient.”