Jurgen Klopp gives selection hint on South American stars

Liverpool's South American contingent could be in line to start against Everton on Saturday, despite their mid-week international exploits.

Darwin Nuñez, Luis Diaz and Alexis Mac Allister all played 90 minutes in the early hours of Wednesday morning (BST) as part of their respective countries' World Cup qualifying campaigns.

As a result, all three face a race against time to be ready for Liverpool's first Merseyside derby of the season which has been scheduled as Saturday's 12:30 kick off.

The trio, along with Alisson – who was an unused sub for Brazil midweek – arrived back in time to engage in light training with Liverpool on Thursday and could be in contention to feature at the weekend, despite their extensive travel and short turnaround times between games.

Mac Allister was thrown in as a starter when Liverpool faced Wolves in the early kick-off after the last international round of fixtures back in September, but was subbed at half-time, with Jurgen Klopp claiming the Argentine midfielder was exhausted. 

Speaking in his pre-match press conference ahead of the Everton clash at Anfield, Klopp admitted he has a decision to make regarding selections this time around, but revealed preparations around travel were 'better' during this international break.

He said, as quoted by the Liverpool Echo: "It's a tricky selection. Some of the boys came yesterday and it was an easy session, come in, warm-up and a rondo. We have to talk to them, see how they are feeling. Travelling was better [organised] this time, that helped. We just find the right players for the intensity.

"We booked better flights, got them all together. Picked them up so they didn't have to take commercial flights from here to there which is tiring after 100mins football. We're good at that. Enough opportunities to practice that."

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While the potential availability of Liverpool's three outfield South Americans will be a boost to the Reds' hopes, Klopp also revealed that he is still waiting on the fitness of Cody Gakpo, who suffered an injury against Tottenham last month.

He added: "Gakpo trained once with the team so we will have to see how it goes for tomorrow. [Stefan] Bajcetic, Thiago out. Ben Doak is out, has a little muscle thing. Not available."

Andy Robertson is Liverpool's other first-team absentee, and will likely require surgery on his shoulder injury.