Thiago’s turn and four things we learned from Liverpool training

Liverpool trained ahead of their Premier League trip to Crystal Palace on Saturday afternoon in Kirkby.

The players, training on Thursday, were the only ones who had not played the night before against Tottenham, with the likes of Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane finishing a recovery session away from the cameras.

Present, however, were the likes of Takumi Minamino and Joel Matip, none of whom played a minute against Jose Mourinho’s men, and Thiago Alcantara also trained on his own while recovering from injuries.

Matip is expected to qualify to face Crystal Palace as he came through Friday’s session unscathed after playing his full part in this session.

Thiago new boots

Formerly treating Nike as its shoe manufacturer, the Spaniard, who was back training with one of Liverpool’s physios in Kirkby, wore a pair of Adidas boots with orange stripes.

He seems to have turned boot companies, with his 135 minutes of football so far for Liverpool to be played with Nike shoes.

Thiago could be back in team training next week but was seen exploding between cones and in and out of positions as he worked toward fullness.

Owen Beck steps up

Seen walking out for training alongside Neco Williams, full-back of Academy Owen Beck, who is a great-grandson of Reds legend Ian Rush, he went to a first-team session.

Usually appearing at left-back for U23s Barry Lewtas, the defender was brought in to add to the numbers with Kostas Tsimikas out injured.

Beck, not 19 until next August, is a promising talent and this is further evidence, perhaps, that Jurgen Klopp is already feeling the benefit of the training ground move to Kirkby with this turn.

Would the youngster have taken a step even if the session was still at Melwood? Probably. But the move to the same site certainly makes things easier.

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Minamino mixed fortune

The Japanese international was seen playing some nice touches in a one-sided one-sided game alongside players who were also not used during the win over Spurs.

Minamino played some good interceptions with the likes of Billy Koumetio and the other players on his team but they seemed to have won with Naby Keita, Jake Cain and their team in neo-bibs.

Minamino had earlier been overwhelmed in the individual drills when he slipped over and was beaten for such sharpness by the likes of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Keita, but made up for that with a strong performance here .

Keita looks sharp

During the mini-game and drills, the Guinean midfielder looked fit and ready as he scored a neat goal past Coaihmin Kelleher and put balls into his players.



Liverpool star Mohamed Salah

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Klopp and the player himself will hopefully be able to stay healthy for a steady time now, with a busy Christmas schedule and fixture list in the coming January.

There was no doubt about Keita’s quality and he once again showed what he can do with his players this session.

The question now is making sure he can continue to do that for the next few weeks and months.

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