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LIVERPOOL -- Jurgen Klopp says it is unlikely Philippe Coutinho will be fit for Liverpool's New Year's Eve meeting with Manchester City. Coutinho, 24, suffered ankle ligament damage after he was stretchered off against Sunderland on Nov. 26 but targeted a return for the encounter with Pep Guardiola's side at Anfield. However, speaking at Melwood on Friday afternoon, the Reds boss revealed that Coutinho was yet to return to full training with the team. "Unfortunately, we don't have him back in training," Klopp told a news conference. "He makes his training -- that's a big difference. Until we have him in training, there's absolutely no reason to think about when he is back. "We cannot rush the situation and we don't want to rush it. We have to accept the more or less bigger steps in his improvement with this serious injury. It was not [just] 'something' -- it was a decent injury and is still, so we need to wait. "Whenever he is back, the season is long enough that he can help us. We cannot rush it just because there are a few games now. That cannot have an influence on our decisions. "A rehab with a professional football player is always on the edge. We cannot say if we do nothing it will take 10 days, and if we try something it will maybe be seven days or 12 if it's too much. "Medicine is a lot about experience and all the players are different. He was on a very good way then it was a little bit more difficult, because of a reaction in the ankle, and we had to cool down the situation a little bit. But he is still on a good way. "I don't think it will be, from this moment on, long-term still. But the game everybody is dreaming of, the City game for example -- it was clear from the first second that this would be really unlikely, but it was the dream of Phil. So try to do it. "In this moment, it's not more likely than before but I don't want to say it's not possible. We have to see." Meanwhile, defender Joel Matip sat out Monday night's Merseyside derby with a recurring ankle problem, having missed the trip Middlesbrough prior to the dramatic 1-0 win at Goodison Park. Klopp said that centre-half could have played against Everton but that he and Liverpool's medical staff are erring on the side of caution with the 25-year-old's fitness. "We could have tried to bring him back in the Everton game, [but] then it would have been a 95 percent probability that he is out for the next game," Klopp added as he previewed Tuesday's visit of Stoke City. "So we decided to give him the time he needed to really settle, because he has had these problems for a few weeks. "It was always close -- next game probably, then not, then he could play, then he was in the squad but we couldn't use him. We tried everything. "But at the end you have to accept how it is. It is not possible that he feels 100 percent comfortable and that makes it really difficult. "I spoke to him a few minutes ago and he was very positive. But he [has been] out of training for a few days already, and as long as we have other players in training all the time, we will choose them."
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