Jurgen Klopp reveals Liverpool squad struck with illness prior to Burnley clash

Jurgen Klopp has suggested that a flu-like bug going through the Liverpool squad could rule out players for the clash with Burnley on Saturday.

Liverpool host the struggling Clarets this weekend as they aim to bounce back from a bitterly disappointing 3-1 defeat away at Arsenal last Sunday, with nothing less than three points acceptable up against the 19th-placed side in the Premier League.

The Reds won the reverse fixture 2-0 at Turf Moor and will be strong favourites for the visit of Vincent Kompany's side, but they will be without a number of key players for the encounter.

Jurgen Klopp confirmed that the trio of Thiago Alcantara, Dominik Szoboszlai and Mohamed Salah will all be absent, while Kostas Tsimikas, Ben Doak, Stefan Bajcetic and Joel Matip are all sidelined through injury as well.

Conor Bradley is currently on compassionate leave after the death of his father and Ibrahima Konate is suspended following his red card against Arsenal last time out.

To add insult to quite literal injury, the Liverpool boss has admitted that an illness has swept through the squad, with some players potentially missing out on the visit of Burnley as a result.

Speaking in his pre-match press conference, Klopp stated: "We have Ibou not available, we’re fighting with a little bit of flu in the squad, so we have to see who is available so that’s all not cool.

"But in the end we will have 11 players and we will go for it. Obviously Mo is not back as well and that means we really need everybody.

"Was it two or three weeks ago when we sat here and we were talking about the luxury problem of lining up players?

"If anybody asks me that again I will kick him out of the room, honestly. We talk once about it and a week later we have a completely different situation."

While Klopp didn't name those suffering with illness, Joe Gomez was absent from recent training sessions, suggesting he may be one of those feeling under the weather.

With Arsenal back in the title picture and Manchester City strutting their stuff, the Reds can't afford any more slip-ups as they bid for a second Premier League crown.