The Reds made the trip to Qatar off the back of five successive wins across all competitions, where a place in the last 16 of the Champions League was secured and their lead atop of the Premier League set at a commanding 10 points.
Liverpool are to meet Monterrey in the last four after the Mexican outfit emerged as 3-2 winners over Al Sadd in the previous round.
Monterrey currently sit in eighth position in their domestic league and head into the clash with the Reds off the back of a run of 14 games unbeaten in all competitions.
Liverpool are rightly heavy favourites, and a win here is likely to set up a showdown with Flamengo in the showpiece final on Saturday.
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Liverpool named an initial 20-man squad for their trip to Qatar, with Gini Wijnaldum named in the travelling party despite having picked up an injury in the win over Watford.
The Dutchman clutched at his hamstring with less than an hour gone at Anfield and left many with their heads in their hands as they faced the prospect of yet another senior figure on the sidelines.
And while a return for the 29-year-old has yet to be provided, Klopp has provided a positive update on Liverpool’s No. 5 as he revealed the injury “was not as serious as we thought.”
However, Wijnaldum will miss out on the meeting with Monterrey at the very least, while the remainder of the Reds’ squad is “fine” – including Virgil van Dijk who took part in his own recovery session away from the main group on Monday.
The manager has been readily rotating his side over the past few weeks and he is likely to again make changes on Wednesday, with James Milner, Adam Lallana, Naby Keita and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain all in contention to slot into the midfield in Wijnaldum’s absence.
Moreover, Liverpool’s squad in Qatar is set to be bolstered to 23 when Harvey Elliott, Sepp van den Berg and Ki-Jana However arrive following their League Cup exploits at Aston Villa.
For Monterrey, ex-Tottenham striker Vincent Janssen is not available for selection having succumbed to injury.
Monterrey vs Liverpool Opta stats
This will be Liverpool’s first ever competitive meeting with a Mexican opponent, while Monterrey have faced an English side once before in the Club World Cup, losing 3-1 to Chelsea in the 2012 semi-final.
In all competitions, Liverpool have lost three of their four previous matches against clubs from outside of Europe, losing to Flamengo (Brazil) in 1981, Independiente (Argentina) in 1984 and São Paulo (Brazil) in 2005.
Monterrey have reached the semi-final of the FIFA Club World Cup for the second time in what is their fourth entry to the competition (also 2012); Mexican clubs have lost all seven of their previous semi-final matches in the tournament, most recently Pachuca against Grêmio in 2017.
Monterrey have won five of their last seven Club World Cup fixtures (L2) and are looking to win back-to-back matches in the same year of the tournament for the very first time.
Prediction: Monterrey 1-3 Liverpool