Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has confirmed Naby Keita was left out of Saturday's win over Sheffield United with the Champions League midweek fixture in mind.

After returning from injury against MK Dons in the Carabao Cup last week, Keita was surprisingly left out of the clash at Bramall Lane.

But Klopp says the decision was part of Keita's recovery from injury.

He said: "[Naby was left out] for the matches that are coming up in mind. We could have taken him on the bench at the weekend but then he would have lost two proper sessions and we wanted to give him these sessions.

"He should be ready now. Yesterday (Monday) I spoke to Andreas Kornmayer and he said Sunday's session was really good and important. It was very intense for him and that is what he needs now.

"He was injured, came back and was then injured again so we have to make sure that will not happen any more. It's good now, he is much better."