Liverpool unsure if Daniel Sturridge and James Milner will be fit for Arsenal test

The Liverpool manager, Jürgen Klopp, could be without both Daniel Sturridge and James Milner when they kick off their new Premier League campaign at Arsenal on Sunday.

Sturridge missed Liverpool’s final two pre-season fixtures last weekend with a hip injury which flared up again at training on Thursday while his former England colleague Milner, who recently retired from international football, sustained a bruised heel during Saturday’s 4-0 win over Barcelona.

“On Wednesday he Sturridge could train; on Thursday, he felt it a little bit so we will have to see,” Klopp told the club website. “Of course, he had a few days where he couldn’t train and that’s not too good for the Arsenal game, but we have other players who are available and that’s good for us.

“Hopefully it stays like this and we can give Daniel enough time so that when he is fit again, he can then become match fit in the next few days. There are a lot of games to play.

“It is nothing serious with him, but it was enough to get him out of training and so now we have to see. It’s how I always say, we have to think about the players that are available at the moment and all the other guys have to work as hard as possible to become fit again.”

Milner was spotted leaving Wembley on crutches following the victory over Barcelona but Klopp is more upbeat about when he will have the versatile 30-year-old available again.

“With Millie we have to wait,” said Klopp, who has welcomed back Dejan Lovren and Marko Grujic to training this week. “It’s better than we all expected after the [Barcelona] game when we saw him walking out of the stadium on crutches – that’s not the best picture you want to see after a game.

“On Sunday he felt better, on Monday he felt better. It’s a bruise in the heel, so that’s really painful and I can say that when it is too painful for Millie, then it’s really painful.

“We will take no risk at the moment, we have to wait until everybody says we can go on and that’s what we’ll do.”

The Arsenal manager, Arsène Wenger, has plenty of injury issues too, particularly in central defence, with Per Mertesacker ruled out for months and Gabriel expected to be sidelined for six to eight weeks.

Klopp aims to give Liverpool home comforts

Jurgen Klopp has been at pains to point out that he will not be able to transform Liverpool's fortunes instantly and the Reds boss faces his next challenge on Sunday when West Bromwich Albion aim to become the latest visiting side to thrive at Anfield.

Emphatic recent away wins at Chelsea, Manchester City and Southampton had some of Liverpool's more optimistic supporters dreaming not only of Champions League qualification, but of a title challenge this season.

Those expectations will have been tempered by a poor showing in a 2-0 defeat at Newcastle last Sunday – only the second time that Liverpool had been beaten since Klopp took charge just over two months ago.

That defeat left Liverpool in eighth in the Premier League going into this weekend's programme, only two places higher than they were when Brendan Rodgers was sacked on October 4.

Sunday's home match against Albion is unlikely to be straightforward either as Liverpool's best displays under Klopp have come away from Anfield.

On home turf, they have looked edgy and nervous for much of the season – winning only three times in the league – and there was little change in their last outing when a James Milner penalty was needed to overcome a limited Swansea side.

The good news for Klopp is that Philippe Coutinho, instrumental in the 4-1 victory at Manchester City three weeks ago, is ready to make his first start since then after recovering from a hamstring injury.

Coutinho made his comeback as a substitute as Liverpool secured top spot in their Europa League group with a 0-0 draw against Sion on Thursday, a match which also saw captain Jordan Henderson make his first start since August.

Henderson has taken time to regain full fitness after suffering two separate foot injuries this season, and was pleased with his workout on a semi-frozen pitch in Switzerland.

"It was nice to play 75 minutes," Henderson said. "It was a tough game in tough conditions. My fitness was tested on the pitch and I had no problem.

"I've just got to keep managing it. But it's been fine so far."

PEPCKING ORDER

The returns of Coutinho and Henderson will be of benefit to Liverpool, who are once again set to be without their injury-prone striker Daniel Sturridge.

England international Sturridge suffered the latest in a long line of setbacks when he picked up a hamstring injury during his appearance as a substitute at Newcastle.

Klopp has indicated that the striker's new injury is not as serious as his previous problems, but it means that Christian Benteke is likely to lead the attack, despite a poor individual performance at St James' Park.

The man who was effectively forced out of Anfield by Benteke's arrival, Rickie Lambert, will return to his home-town club as a West Brom player for the first time since leaving last summer.

Yet having made the tough decision to leave Merseyside after just one season, Lambert has swapped Liverpool's substitutes' bench for Albion's.

He has started just three Premier League games after falling below Salomon Rondon in the pecking order, but will hope the hamstring injury that has ruled out Stephane Sessegnon this weekend might open up a starting berth.

"He is knocking on my door all the time," Albion manager Tony Pulis said.

"He wants to play. But it's about trying to find the right formation and shape for the team and trying to get the balance right.

"We didn't think we would get Salomon right up to the last minute in the summer but Salomon was a real coup for us.

"Rickie has been smashing. He's a good pro who is great around the place. The players love him, to be honest.

"He is a good old-fashioned, professional player who gets on with his job."