(AFP, REUTERS) Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp will miss his side's crucial Premier League clash at Chelsea on Sunday (Jan 2) after a suspected positive Covid-19 test.

As well as his test result, three other members of his backroom staff have tested positive, but Liverpool are not expected to ask for the match to be postponed at this stage.

"Jurgen Klopp will miss Liverpool's Premier League meeting with Chelsea on Sunday after returning a suspected positive Covid-19 test result," Liverpool said in a statement on Saturday (Jan 1).

Assistant manager Pepijn Lijnders will lead the team for the clash against Thomas Tuchel's side at Stamford Bridge. The Blues (42 points) and Reds are second and third on the table respectively, with just one point separating them although Klopp's men have a game in hand.

On Friday, Klopp had announced that three players in the squad have returned positive tests, He refused to name the players, as test results were pending, but forward Roberto Firmino and goalkeeper Alisson Becker were absent from a training session.

Despite distancing himself from suggestions that the game could be in danger, the German this week described each new day as a “lottery” as he waited to discover if any of his squad had tested positive.

The league has postponed 18 games, including Liverpool’s Boxing Day clash against Leeds United, since last month due to coronavirus outbreaks and injuries at several clubs, leaving sides without enough players to fulfil fixtures.

Liverpool were without the services of Virgil van Dijk, Thiago Alcantara, Fabinho and Curtis Jones in recent weeks after they were forced into isolation due to suspected positive Covid-19 tests. The quartet returned to training earlier this week.