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Three Liverpool players COVID-19 positive before Chelsea trip: Klopp
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FILE PIC: English Premier League club, Liverpool players celebrating after scoring in a past match. /Getty Images

FILE PIC: English Premier League club, Liverpool players celebrating after scoring in a past match. /Getty Images

It is another setback for the English Football Club Liverpool after three of its players tested positive for coronavirus ahead of their expected trip to Chelsea. Its manager Juergen Klopp however said it is too soon to call off the trip.

English Premier League has seen 18 matches being postponed due to a mixture of COVID-19 outbreaks and injuries at several clubs, leaving them without enough players to fulfil fixtures.

"We have three new COVID cases in the team and a few more in the staff, so it's not so cool at the moment," Klopp said ahead of Sunday's game in London.

"I'm not (able to reveal who tested positive) because we have to go through the whole process, PCR (tests), but you will see the day after tomorrow on the team sheet, it will be clear who is affected."

When asked if Liverpool would have to ask for the game to be postponed, Klopp said: "Not yet, but we don't know. We never had an outbreak where 10-15 players had it.

"For us, it's more every day another one (tests positive) it feels like a lottery in the morning. It's day by day another case. We don't know how it will look in a few hours."

Liverpool's Virgil van Dijk, Thiago Alcantara, Fabinho and Curtis Jones had returned to training earlier this week after going into isolation due to positive COVID-19 tests.

Klopp added that Thiago and Takumi Minamino, who missed the midweek loss at Leicester City due to muscle soreness, were not yet fit to play.

Liverpool suffered a loss recently after they were beaten 1-0 by Leicester City which saw runaway leaders Manchester City open a 8-point gap at the summit.

(With input from agencies)

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