Benteke and Firmino ruled out for Tottenham clash

Jurgen Klopp has confirmed that Christian Benteke and Roberto Firmino will miss his first match in charge of Liverpool against Tottenham on Saturday.

Benteke has been absent for Liverpool’s last four games after suffering a hamstring injury in the 1-1 draw with Norwich City, while Brazil international Firmino has been sidelined with a back problem since the League Cup clash against Carlisle United on September 23.

Klopp has ruled both attackers out of the Spurs clash but expects to welcome them back to first-team training next week.

“Benteke and Firmino are back on the pitch, not team training but better and better. I don’t know exactly when they will come back, but I hope to see next week them in team training. Hopefully it can go quick, and they will be ready for playing,” he said on Thursday.

“For sure, not Saturday, and I don’t think Thursday [against Rubin Kazan]. For next Sunday, ask me next week!”

Klopp has called for patience regarding his hopes for the remainder of the season as he aims to rebuild the confidence within the side.

“Everything is different at the moment. We want to look different, for sure,” he said.

“But to get really tuned as a team, that takes time. I’m not interested in the problems we could have on Saturday. After this game we will know more.

“The biggest problem we have, I met people who say ‘we can win the league, we can win the league’ and the others look and think ‘what have you done’.

“We want to get back trust, and confidence. More and more and more. It sometimes needs more time. A good example is the Villa game, when Milly [James Milner] scored after two minutes, and everything changed at this moment.

“You will find a way if you are patient enough, and don’t think ‘oh my God it is like last week, last year, whatever’. I want to get the players to trust themselves. I’m here because of them, because I can help these guys. We have to work together.”