Klopp hopes Matip, Fabinho and Lovren will all be fit to face Manchester United

Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp is optimistic Joel Matip, Fabinho and Dejan Lovren will return from injury in time for Sunday’s Premier League clash with old rivals Manchester United at Anfield.

Fabinho has been out since late November with an ankle problem, Matip has been out for two months with a knee problem and Lovren has not played since December 10 due to a thigh injury.

“I wait really until they are on the pitch and somebody tells me they are allowed to do the full session,” Klopp said on the club website.

“It looks like Joel will be in, it looks like Fabinho will be in maybe a day later, I’m not sure. Dejan, maybe he can be in as well.

“That means a lot and helps massively of course. But we will see how it looks. The week is very important.

“The game on Sunday against United, we all know what people expect from us from that game. It will be a big one as well and we try to be ready for that.”

The runaway league leaders are enjoying a rare full week between fixtures following on from Saturday’s win over Tottenham, though Klopp warned that brought challenges of its own for his players.

He added: “This time it was not intensity, this time it was the rhythm break. I know people will say sometimes it’s that and sometimes it’s that, but it is like this.

“We were now used to (a game) three days, three days, four days, three days and now some of us had nine days. Training, yes, but not the intensity – we cannot do that and don’t want to do that.

“So now we are in again and let’s carry on.”