Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson is very much touch and go for the season opener against Leeds United on Saturday evening.

The 30-year-old is fit but he did not take part in the final friendly against Blackpool last weekend and manager Jurgen Klopp said after the match that the decision was made for him to take part in a training session instead:

“It makes no real sense because he had to do an important session today for him. If he would have played today, 10 minutes or so would have probably been OK. But that makes no sense. So that was not possible, but he trained in big parts of this week and will probably join full team training next Tuesday.”

“Timing-wise, not perfect that he cannot play today, but can train a few days later fully. But that’s how it is. We will see how he develops, [there are] a few days until Leeds”

Henderson has not featured since picking up a knee injury in the 3-1 win over Brighton back in early July, but it was expected that he would be fit ahead of the start of the new campaign. The midfielder may only be ready for a place on the bench versus Leeds.

Kostas Tsimikas won’t be in the squad this weekend, with the Greek international having reportedly tested positive for COVID-19. He will also miss the Carabao Cup third-round tie against either Bradford or Lincoln, as well as the away trip to Chelsea.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is still recovering from a knee problem he sustained during preseason, while Xherdan Shaqiri is a doubt after picking up another niggle.