The Reds saw a Dutch defender miss training on Thursday, while their skipper has struggled with illness, but both are available for a crunch clash

Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has declared Virgil van Dijk and Jordan Henderson fit for Sunday’s crunch Premier League clash with Manchester City.

Reds skipper Henderson missed Tuesday’s 2-1 Champions League win over Genk through illness, while Van Dijk was absent from training on Thursday.

However, it later transpired Van Dijk was granted permission to return to his native Netherlands to receive royal recognition for his outstanding achievements this year.

Klopp confirmed at Friday’s pre-match news conference that the centre-back, along with captain Henderson, will be available for selection at Anfield on Sunday.

“Virgil was for other reasons not here on Thursday but he is completely fine. Jordan is completely fine,” he said.

Liverpool remain without Joel Matip, Xherdan Shaqiri and Nathaniel Clyne for the visit of City, who trail the league leaders by six points ahead of this weekend’s showdown.

Pep Guardiola’s Blues have fitness issues of their own to contend with after confirming that Brazilian goalkeeper Ederson will sit out a trip to Anfield.

Absentees at the back have also been an issue for the defending champions this season, but Klopp is not about to show any sympathy.

He added: “We all have problems.

“Last year [Kevin] De Bruyne couldn’t play against us, one of the best players in the world, and they still got results. That shows the quality of Man City. They are still really strong.

“Do I like talking about Man City all the time? No. I am more than happy with what we did in the last couple of years. But getting 100 points, then 98 points, and looking still greedy, that’s a really big strength.

“We all have to deal with setbacks and injuries, and they did pretty well.

“It’s not about comparing the team from last year, it’s about how do they deal with the situation and that’s quite impressive.

“I don’t think about the City team of the last few years, I think about the City team of the moment, and that’s good enough for a proper game.”

Klopp added as he prepares to be reunited with the side that pipped Liverpool to the Premier League title by a solitary point in 2018-19: “I don’t admire other teams, I respect them and I like a couple of things.

“The character of the team and the manager is pretty good, but the combination of speed and technique is always impressive in football.

“They have quite a few players who are good at that, organisation is pretty good. It’s a good football team.”