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Jurgen Klopp has hinted at a fresh wave of coronavirus affecting Liverpool ahead of their Premier League trip to Brighton.

The Reds suffered two separate outbreaks in December and January which affected their fixture list. While they managed their initial set of cases, they had to postpone the first leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final in January.

Following on from that, Liverpool – for the first time in a long time – had a fully-fit squad.

However, that quickly dissipated. Diogo Jota, Roberto Firmino, Joel Matip and Thiago Alcantara have all had recent issues.

And Klopp hinted at some new Covid-19 cases in a press conference on Friday. Thiago and Ibrahima Konate missed training on Thursday, as did Konate’s fellow centre-back Virgil van Dijk.

Klopp said: “We had a few little things but so far nobody is out of training. On top of that, Covid is not over.

“These kind of things we have as well. Or had, we will see. We try everything to avoid this but it’s not really possible.

“Players and staff who have had it now with no symptoms. That’s good but they can’t be involved. We will see. They come later today.

“We train a little bit later and they are not here yet. So far I haven’t had any news injury-wise. They should all be ready.”

Liverpool return to action against Brighton at the Amex Stadium on Saturday looking for a better performance than in the tie between the sides at Anfield in October.

The Reds took a two-goal lead before only coming away with a point after a Brighton fightback.

Liverpool would be top of the Premier League if they had been able to call on this player all season

Liverpool come go into Saturday following the 1-0 Champions League defeat to Inter. Klopp’s men still made it through to the quarter-finals on aggregate, but the manager insisted that his team are “not good losers”.

Indeed, they have only lost twice in the Premier League this term and have responded well to poor results. However, Klopp urged his side to defend better against the Seagulls than they did against Inter.

Klopp wants strong Liverpool reaction

“They are a really good football team” Klopp said of Brighton. “Graham Potter is an outstanding coach, I really like what he is doing.

“If you have a look at the players they bring in and how they play, it’s really exciting to watch.

“We are not good losers. After a game, I have a speech in the dressing room. In this game [Inter], it was slightly different.

“I was in a better mood to the players. Reaction is important, we have to show that and I’m pretty sure we will. I didn’t like parts of the performance, especially defensively.

“If we don’t defend right against Brighton, we will have a problem.”

Elsewhere in his press briefing, Klopp spoke again of the potential of Mohamed Salah signing a new Liverpool contract.

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