Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has admitted it would be a ‘surprise’ if Virgil van Dijk or Joe Gomez were declared fit to face Mainz and he doesn’t expect either to play in Friday's friendly against the Bundesliga side.
The defensive duo spent large parts of last season on the sidelines and have spent much of the pre-season tour of Austria working to their own individual programmes.
On Tuesday, both were absent for the two 30-minute matches against Wacker Innsbruck and Stuttgart, which each ended 1-1, and it appears the Mainz encounter will come too soon also.
“It would be a surprise, to me as well,” Klopp told LFCTV with regards to the pair taking to the field for Friday’s friendly against his former club.
“They have looked really good in training and yesterday was the first day where they did very complex things, usually it is either offensive or defensive and stuff like this.
“We have to get there, step-by-step, but I don’t expect them for Friday.”
Before travelling to face Norwich City on the opening day of the Premier League season, Liverpool will also face Hertha Berlin on July 29 before taking on Athletic Bilbao and Osasuna on August 8 and August 9 respectively.
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