Wijnaldum reveals Liverpool barely train as injury-ravaged squad attempts to deal with hectic schedule

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The Dutch midfielder is fortunate enough to have steered clear of the treatment table, but a number of team-mates have picked up untimely knocks

Georginio Wijnaldum admits Liverpool are barely training as they seek to manage their way through a gruelling fixture list that has already delivered a number of untimely injury blows.

The Anfield treatment room is seeing plenty of footfall at present, with barely a week going by that does not see another name added to the list of walking wounded.

A Merseyside derby date with arch-rivals Everton got that unfortunate ball rolling in October.

Virgil van Dijk suffered knee ligament damage which required him to undergo surgery, while Thiago Alcantara is another who has not been seen since that eventful trip to Goodison Park.

Joel Matip, Jordan Henderson, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Joe Gomez, Alisson and James Milner have all picked up knocks since then – with some still stuck on the sidelines.

That is forcing Jurgen Klopp to get creative with his selections on matchdays and his pre-game preparations.

The German tactician has been vocal in his opposition to some of the scheduling calls made this season, with the games continuing to come thick and fast, and Wijnaldum concedes that the reigning Premier League champions have little time in which to get themselves ready.

“I don’t really have anything to complain about. I am blessed to stay fit during this period,” the Netherlands international, who is one of the fortunate ones not to have been laid low, told reporters in the aftermath of a 1-0 Champions League win over Ajax.

“I hope I can hold on until the end of the season. That’s going to be very difficult, but I’m confident.

“It’s really just playing matches and resting at the moment.

“There’s not really any training because there’s not a lot of time for that.”

Liverpool have slightly longer to prepare for their next outing than they have done for recent fixtures, with a Tuesday night clash with Ajax set to be followed by a home date with Wolves on Sunday.

They will head into a meeting with Nuno’s men buoyed by progress through to the last 16 of the Champions League, with Wijnaldum pleased to have crossed that European line.

He added: “We knew that Ajax has a very good football-playing team and it would be tough.

“A match against Ajax is not an easy one. It makes it extra nice that we were able to win the match.

“I think Ajax has played two very good matches, but of course you can see that we are very grown up. I think that's why we won the matches.

“In the Premier League you play such matches more often, then you have to be very mature to win them, even if you don't play well. We did that twice against Ajax.

“I must say we created more chances than in Amsterdam. I think Ajax has done very well in two matches. “

2020-12-03 18:00:05

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