Goalkeeper Loris Karius will return for Liverpool's latest Champions League outing, Jürgen Klopp has confirmed.

The Reds travelled to Slovenia for Tuesday night's group stage tie with NK Maribor with Karius a member of the 21-man squad that flew out the previous day.

The Merseyside outfit have drawn both of their first two games in the competition to Sevilla and Spartak Moscow, both of which Karius started in after being picked as the club's 'keeper for European games.

Speaking to Liverpool's official website on the flight to Slovenia, Klopp said: "Yes, Loris will start. If nothing happens from here on the way to Maribor, then Loris will start."

Liverpool have no other major injury issues from Saturday's goalless Premier League draw with rivals Manchester United, though Klopp spoke of "a few little things" which he says is "how it always is after a game."

"So far the Doctor hasn't come to me to say one player or another is not available, so we're pretty much the same [squad as vs United]," the German explained.

He declared that they "have a couple of players more" in the travelling contingent but insisted it is still "the same squad" with "a few more players."

Reds boss insists fatigue no reason for any possible changes against Maribor

Klopp noted that the intensity of the clash with United was "more mentally" than physically because the match "was not up and down [the pitch], up and down, up and down."

He said instead that Liverpool "had the ball quite often" and "were really concentrated" which meant it was still intense but in a way that "you can usually recover from in two days," Klopp insisted.

The Reds boss added: "The squad is in good shape. I don't have to say a lot about this because I think everybody who is interested, or has watched the games, will have seen in our performances that we're physically good."

He noted that he knows "how it sounds" when he praises his team's fitness because they "don't have the results" to follow, but insisted it is "about keeping on going, doing the right things again and still improving."

"There is space for us to improve, of course," Klopp said, applauding Liverpool's "good" general shape which he believes is what they "have to keep" as the campaign continues.

He suggested that they "will see about rotation" and how many changes the visitors make and said: "I don't think it is necessary but maybe [we will make] one, two, three or four changes. We will see. It's a very, very important game so, again, it's always a decision about rhythm and being used to each other or bringing in fresh legs."

Klopp said that Liverpool "have a lot of games" to come but insisted that the intensity of their latest game, against United, should not "be a reason for the line-up for this game."

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About the author
Charlie Malam
Digital Sports Writer at the Daily Express. First-class Staffordshire University Sports Journalism graduate. Formerly VAVEL UK's Liverpool FC editor and Deputy Editor-in-Chief. Contributor since June 2014.