Liverpool’s Jurgen Klopp wary of risking Daniel Sturridge at Manchester City

• England striker has only just returned to training after injury
• ‘He is not 100%. His quality is outstanding but everyone needs training’

Posted Friday, November 20, 2015 by theguardian.com

Liverpool’s Jurgen Klopp wary of risking Daniel Sturridge at Manchester City
Daniel Sturridge returned to training this week after recovering from a knee injury.

Jurgen Klopp has said Daniel Sturridge could feature for Liverpool at Manchester City but the temptation to involve the striker must be balanced against his poor injury record.

The England international has declared himself fit and ready for Saturday’s trip to the Etihad Stadium after missing the past five weeks with a knee problem. However, Sturridge only returned to full training on Tuesday and, given his history of injury, the Liverpool manager is wary of risking a repeat with an immediate return.

But Klopp conceded: "He is as fit as he can be after this long break. Of course he is not 100% and now we have to see. I have to think about it. His quality is outstanding but everyone needs training. Today was the third full exercise with the team after five weeks’ break. As a striker sometimes five minutes are enough [to influence a game]. We need to see."

The German said Sturridge’s quality increases the temptation to include the striker against his former club: "The problem with Daniel’s quality is it is obvious. When you see it in training you think: ‘Right nice’. But we have to think about it. He has to train, that is for sure, because four and a half weeks out I am not sure Liverpool has that long a break in the summer. So for four and a half weeks he couldn’t train, he wasn’t cycling and running, so because he is such a skilled guy after a few minutes you think maybe we should. Everyone wants to see more of him on the pitch but we have to find the right balance."

Klopp revealed he met Steven Gerrard at Melwood during the international break and reiterated the training ground is always open to the club’s former captain, who is currently on holiday during the MLS close season.

"He is on holiday and has not that much holiday after he left Liverpool to go to LA," said the manager. "He is a really, really good person. I enjoyed our time together and we spoke about many things. He doesn’t want to play next week or train next week. If he wants to train, of course, he can no question. He can use Melwood and then go back to LA and train and play. Then it is really far away."