Jurgen Klopp confirms huge Mohamed Salah boost ahead of Man Utd vs Liverpool FA Cup clash

Mohamed Salah will likely be fit enough to start against Manchester United with Jurgen Klopp admitting it is possible he does so against Sparta Prague on Thursday.

Salah suffered a hamstring injury while representing Egypt at the Africa Cup of Nations and had been restricted to just one substitute appearance in two months before coming off the bench during Liverpool's 5-1 Europa League last-16 first-leg win in Czechia. The winger then came off the bench again during his side's 1-1 draw against Manchester City on Sunday but minutes are being carefully managed.

With a four-goal advantage going into Thursday's second-leg at Anfield, Liverpool will be able to rest key players ahead of Sunday's FA Cup quarter-final trip to Old Trafford. Klopp admitted it is unclear whether Salah can play 90 minutes but suggested he could start midweek, which would make him available to do so again come Sunday.

“I am not sure he is ready for 90 minutes or that we should do 90 minutes but he is ready to start," Klopp said. "He would've been ready to start the last game but you don't know how long it makes sense. It is always the problem when players come back. I can’t remember a game where I thought, 'ah, Mo Salah cannot play, no problem' – it has never happened so it is not cool not to have him.

"But there was a game last Sunday (against City) and there are 10 more Premier League games and hopefully a lot more cup and European games, so they are as important. Mo is completely fine with that. Would he have loved to play a bit longer? Probably, yes. It wouldn’t have been impossible playing longer. 

“It is super-important you build up Mo but in this game, changing at half-time was not necessary or possible as we have to deal with changes pretty carefully. We all know Mo usually can play game after game after game. Now he was out for a surprisingly long time but now he is back and we have to make sure we can count on him consistently again."