Jurgen Klopp Talks Virgil van Dijk, Mo Salah, Andy Robertson Fitness in Presser

Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has confirmed Virgil van Dijk will be available to face Crystal Palace on Saturday, but a number of other players will require late fitness tests, including Mohamed Salah and Andy Robertson.

Goal's Neil Jones relayed news from the German's press conference on Friday:

Van Dijk did not feature in Netherlands' 5-0 win over Estonia on Tuesday.

According to Ian Doyle of the Liverpool Echo, Klopp added on Salah: "Yesterday he trained. He has been training the things we want him to do. It's not that he has got worse, it's just that it is there still [injury]. We have to be sensible. I have to see the session today before I make a decision."

Both Salah and Robertson were unable to feature for their national teams during the international break because of ankle problems.

Per Doyle, Klopp added that Alisson Becker, Roberto Firmino, Fabinho and Georginio Wijnaldum returned late to the club from the international break and are yet to prove their availability.

"We have to wait," he said. "We have to wait until the last minute to make a decision. Nobody came back with a serious injury."

Xherdan Shaqiri hasn't featured for the Reds since September because of a calf injury, but Klopp gave an update on his return and future with the club, per The Athletic's James Pearce:

Shaqiri may only be a squad player at Anfield, but his return will be useful to the Reds in the coming weeks.

Liverpool will play at least 12 matches between Saturday and January 2—13 if they reach the final of the FIFA Club World Cup—while the scheduled clash with West Ham United on December 21 has been postponed to an unknown date.

Klopp discussed how the club will deal with the hectic schedule:

The Reds will have to divide their squad when they play Aston Villa in the Carabao Cup quarter-finals on December 17 and in the Club World Cup semi-finals in Qatar the following day.

Liverpool will need to make use of their youngsters to cope with that schedule, but having as many first-team squad players available as possible will ease the burden on their academy talents and boost their chances of winning both fixtures.