Liverpool duo ruled out of Porto clash with Jurgen Klopp coy on Mohamed Salah involvement

Jurgen Klopp has suggested he will make a few changes to his Liverpool starting XI for the Champions League last-16 second-leg tie against FC Porto, but has yet to make a decision on Mohamed Salah's involvement in a fixture that will come too soon for Georginio Wijnaldum and Ben Woodburn.

Liverpool welcome the Primeira Liga leaders to Anfield on Tuesday [6 March] with one foot already planted firmly in the quarter-finals of Europe's elite club competition after a Sadio Mane hat-trick inspired Klopp's side to a comprehensive 5-0 victory in their first knockout tie for nine years on the Iberian Peninsula last month.

Klopp has been adamant that he is not considering potentially resting players for that return meeting with Porto despite the enormous lead they possess and with a trip to Manchester United in the Premier League on the horizon on Saturday [10 March].

He reiterated that stance during a pre-match press conference at Melwood on Monday [5 March] but would later concede a few alterations could be made.

"We respect Porto too much and respect the competition too much that we would think about 'real' rotation," Klopp said. "We had an intense game on Saturday [2-0 win over Newcastle United] and we had a few knocks and little things here and there, we had ill players before that, hopefully nothing new happened in this department.

"I didn't make a decision so far about line-up, because I don't have to. I need the time and I have the time."

Pressed if the game could represent a good opportunity to give top scorer Salah the night off, he added: "I didn't make a decision so far. You don't rotate to avoid something, you only use the players which are in the best shape.

"Will there be a different lineup to Saturday? I don't know. But if it will be a different lineup then only because we want to win the game and no other reasons.

"We will not rest players, we will maybe make one, two, three changes or so, but only to win the game."

Wijnaldum and Woodburn update

Wijnaldum and Woodburn missed Saturday's 2-0 victory over Newcastle United that saw the Reds - at least temporarily - leapfrog United into second place in the Premier League, with the duo both suffering from stomach problems.

While teenage forward Woodburn returned to training at Melwood on Sunday [4 March], neither will be considered fit enough to play any part against Porto.

"Ben trained yesterday but he looked three kilos less, to be honest," Klopp said in a separate interview with Liverpoolfc.com. "Gini still hasn't trained with the team. He had a little bit of an athletic programme, a little bit of running - not too much.

"They were really out for a few days. They are coming back but it will be too early for both of them."

The German added that he did not expect Porto to field a weakened team themselves in the face of such a formidable deficit and that he expected a reaction from Sergio Conceicao's men, who welcomed back striker Vincent Aboubakar for Friday's [2 March] win over Sporting Lisbon.

He also praised the strength of Portuguese football in general despite that first-leg thrashing and hailed captain Jordan Henderson's performance against Newcastle, stating he had the "most difficult job in England" replacing Steven Gerrard and stressing that he still had room to improve.