LONDON: Liverpool are still assessing the fitness of Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk ahead of Tuesday’s Premier League trip to Southampton where they could close the gap on leaders Manchester City to one point, manager Juergen Klopp said on Monday.

Forward Salah and defender Van Dijk were substituted during Saturday’s FA Cup final against Chelsea, which Liverpool won on penalties to lift their second trophy of the season.

“The process is not finished yet because we only played the 120 minutes two days ago... We have a lot of decisions,” Klopp told a news conference.

The quadruple-chasing Reds, who face Real Madrid in the Champions League final on May 28, were given fresh hope they could pip Manchester City to the title when Pep Guardiola’s team dropped two points in a 2-2 draw at West Ham United on Sunday.

Defending champions City, with one game remaining, are four points clear at the top of the table with a significantly better goal difference than their rivals, who have two games left.

But Klopp said he did not expect Guardiola’s side to slip up again when they host Aston Villa this weekend.

“There is a chance (of winning the league) but is there a big chance? I don’t know the last time City dropped points two games in a row,” Klopp said.

“Aston Villa play midweek as well [at home to Burnley], which they are not used to, so I don’t expect [City] to drop points there. But this has no influence on our game for tomorrow. In an ideal world, we go into the last match one point behind.”

Published in Dawn, May 17th, 2022