Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has said Thiago Alcantara has a "good chance" of being fit for the Champions League final against Real Madrid on Saturday.
The Spain international hobbled off with an injury just before half-time during Liverpool's 3-1 win against Wolves on the final day of the Premier League season on Sunday, and was not seen in training on Wednesday.
However, Klopp told reporters at a media conference that he was scheduled to do some training later that afternoon, and that he should feature in team training on Thursday.
"I only met him now inside. Good chance [he will make it]," Klopp said.
"He will be training this afternoon, he did some stuff this morning. It was not planned he would be doing this session with players and in the moment it looks like he can be part of training tomorrow, which would be pretty helpful, and then we'll go from there.
"It's surprisingly good. After the game I was not positive about it but we got news that night it was not that bad... and now we will see."
Klopp had already been boosted earlier in the day, with Fabinho and Joe Gomez back in training following injuries sustained in the recent win at Aston Villa.
Saturday's game will see Liverpool and Madrid meet again in the Champions League final, having done so in 2018 when Los Blancos won 3-1 in Kyiv, which included Mohamed Salah being forced off with a shoulder injury in the first half.
Klopp said his players are determined to win the game, but that this does not come from an idea of "revenge", despite Salah saying he wanted it following the semi-final win against Villarreal.
"It was a harsh night for us, tough to take," Klopp said. "We came there on three wheels a bit, players came back just in time for the final, we couldn't replace Mo one for one.
"I don't believe in revenge, but I understand it as well... I'm not sure it's the right thing to do. For us, I understand what Mo said, he wants to put it right, I want to put it right.
"In Germany, we say 'you always meet twice in life', and that sounds more like a threat than it is. It just means behave better in the first moment, when you meet again you will get a better reception.
"It's all fine between me, us and Real Madrid. It is a football game of the highest level, and whoever thinks it's a good idea to give us an opportunity to win this time, I think it would be a great story but not because of what happened in 2018. It will just happen if we make the right decisions on the pitch and I hope we can do that."
Indonesia 0-4 Japan: Visitors stay unbeaten with rout
Japan continued their unbeaten start to World Cup qualifying with a 4-0 victory over Indonesia on Friday.
Two goals from the visitors in either half were enough to seal the three points and get them back to winning ways after a stalemate with Australia last time out.
Ragnar Oratmangoen should have put Indonesia ahead, but he hesitated one-on-one with the goalkeeper, and Japan did not look back after that. They got a bit of fortune with their first goal, Justin Hubner deflecting a cross into his own net in the 35th minute.
Takumi Minamino got their second just before the break, finishing off a pacy counter-attack by darting onto the end of Kaoru Mitoma’s cross to sweep it past Maarten Paes.
While there was not much the goalkeeper could do with that one, he was at fault for the third as he gifted the ball to Hidemasa Morita, who coolly picked out the bottom corner just after the break.
Yukinari Sugawara came off the bench to round off the scoring in the 69th minute. He raced down the right wing and instead of looking to his options, he rifled it in from a tight angle at the near post.
Japan are up to 13 points after five games, sitting top of Group C, while Indonesia are bottom, still in search of their first win.
Data Debrief: Clinically done
For a team still chasing their first win, Japan are probably not high on the list of opponents they would want to face, and Indonesia were undone by their visitors.
Hajime Moriyasu's side created 0.79 expected goals (xG) to Indonesia's 0.72, while they only had four more shots than their hosts (12 compared to eight).
Japan took their chances, and though the win margin may look harsh, they were deserving of the three points, having dominated throughout the game.
Jamaica 0-1 United States: Pepi give visitors advantage in Nations League quarter-final
Ricardo Pepi's first-half strike gave the United States a 1-0 advantage over Jamaica after the first leg of their Concacaf Nations League quarter-final.
The hosts saw a penalty saved in the first half before their frustrations were compounded late on thanks to Mason Holgate's red card.
The USA had the lead just five minutes in – having smothered a Jamaica attack at one end, the visitors caught them out with a pacy counter-attack, with Pepi sweeping it into the back of the net.
Shortly after, Shamar Nicholson was brought down by Matt Turner when he tried to take it around him, but the goalkeeper made amends, diving low to his right to deny Demarai Gray from 12 yards.
In the second half, Holgate was denied a tap-in by Yunus Musah before Turner scrambled to stop Leon Bailey's corner from nestling into the net as Jamaica searched for an equaliser.
With 86 minutes on the clock, Holgate received a second yellow card in just over 10 minutes for dragging Brandon Vazquez back, meaning he will miss the return leg in Missouri on Monday.
Data Debrief: Hitting the mark
Pepi got the all-important goal on Thursday, and is the fourth player to score 12 goals for the USA before turning 22 years old, joining Landon Donovan, Jozy Altidore and Christian Pulisic.
But it was perhaps Turner who actually had the most vital interventions; he has now saved three of the eight penalties he's faced for the USA, including two against Jamaica.
Mauricio Pochettino also could not have asked for a better result from his first competitive game in charge of the Stars and Stripes as he became just the third full-time manager to win his first competitive away match, joining Bob Bradley (2008) and Steve Sampson (1996).
Laporte 'would listen to call' from Real Madrid
Al-Nassr defender Aymeric Laporte says he would listen to a call from Real Madrid if the club approached him over a transfer.
The LaLiga champions currently only have one fit centre-back after Eder Militao suffered an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury that requires surgery against Osasuna last weekend.
David Alaba is still recovering from a knee operation last December, while they are also light at right-back, with Dani Carvajal and Lucas Vazquez also sidelined.
Madrid are reportedly interested in signing Laporte, who moved to the Saudi Pro League from Manchester City in August 2023 and has made nine appearances in the competition so far this season.
The defender won five Premier League titles while in England, as well as two FA Cups, three EFL Cups and the Champions League, while he was also part of the Spain squad that won Euro 2024 in July.
When asked how he would feel about a potential move to Madrid, he told El Larguero: "I've read the same things as everybody else. I would listen to the call. Obviously, you don’t look down on teams like Real Madrid.
"I've said it many times, my idea is to return to Europe. I went there [to Saudi Arabia] to play football, not to do other things.
"So far it hasn't been bad for me as while I've been there. I've won a European Championship, which is the most beautiful thing that has happened in my career."
Meanwhile, Tottenham full-back Pedro Porro has also seen his name linked with Los Blancos amid their recent injury problems.
He has played all but three minutes in the Premier League this season and has made the second-most interceptions (15) and tackles (25), while nobody in the squad has made more blocks (five).
His tally of 76 crosses is also a team-high, and he says his main focus is on the job in front of him.
"That one of the best clubs in the world notices me means that I'm doing my job well at my club," he said. "But it's not just my name that is being linked, there are others.
"My friends send me those rumours, but I'm focused on my job, and I cannot be distracted by that."
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