Jan 2 (Reuters) - Liverpool"s Alisson Becker, Roberto Firmino and Joel Matip will miss the Premier League trip to Chelsea later on Sunday after returning positive tests for COVID-19, the Merseyside club said. Manager Juergen Klopp will also be absent from the game after testing positive on Saturday, with his assistant Pepijn Lijnders set to take charge at Stamford Bridge. The club said other members of the playing squad had subsequently been tested and received negative results. Liverpool were without Virgil van Dijk, Thiago Alcantara, Fabinho and Curtis Jones in recent weeks after they were forced into isolation due to positive tests. The quartet returned to training earlier this week. Liverpool are third in the league standings on 41 points from 19 games, a point behind second-placed Chelsea but with a game in hand.