Liverpool leave Jota and Oxlade-Chamberlain at home as they race to be fit in time for new season

Liverpool flew out for their final pre-season trip on Thursday, but there was no sign of injured duo Diogo Jota and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain ahead of matches against RB Leipzig and Red Bull Salzburg.

The likes of Mohammed Salah and Virgil van Dijk were spotted boarding the club's private jet to Germany ahead of Thursday night's game against the Bundesliga giants.

Last season's Premier League runners up will then go on to an Austrian training camp, which will conclude with a friendly against Red Bull Salzburg on July 27th.

However, two noticeable absentees were Jota and Oxlade-Chamberlain. Both picked up injuries while on the club's recent tour of Asia and this setback will come as a huge blow with them missing out on the opportunity to step up preparations for the new Premier League season, which begins in just over two weeks.

Jota was forced to sit out of the Reds' 2-0 win against Crystal Palace in Singapore last week with Jurgen Klopp explaining how a previous hamstring problem flared up again in a training session. He admitted that it's unlikely he will recover in time to feature in the Community Shield against Manchester City next Saturday.

Oxlade-Chamberlain was forced off in that Palace match, also going to ground with a hamstring issue just before half time. It comes as the latest in a long line of injury troubles for the midfielder, much to the frustration of himself and his manager.

'It's very disappointing for us because [Oxlade-Chamberlain] trained all the time really well since pre-season started,' said Klopp.

'He is obviously a top-class player and he can help us.'

Since suffering an ACL rupture back in the Champions semi-final versus Roma in April 2018, 'the Ox' has missed a total of 75 matches for Liverpool through injury.

His last spell on the sidelines was more than 18 months ago, but his recurring absence has meant he has slowly fallen down the pecking order in Klopp's squad and only featured 17 times in the league last season.

The 28-year-old had recently been linked with a move to West Ham in search of more playing time, although a move might not yet be dead in the water since this latest problem is not expected to keep him out for long.

'This is just a muscle thing and that's OK,' added Klopp. 'I don't know exactly how long it will take, but he will be back and then it's all fine.'

More positively, defender Joe Gomez will travel, while Klopp also expects goalkeeper Alisson to be match fit after nursing an abdominal issue in recent weeks.

'With Ali, it's nothing serious but we're preparing for the whole season. It's just not ideal,' said the German.

'He can't do goalie training with it and shouldn't play in this moment, but he can still do some other things. These things happen. Only a little thing but we have to be careful.'

Looking ahead to the Community Shield, he is confident that his first-choice keeper will be in-between the sticks.

'I think Ali has the chance for City but not Diogo.'