Liverpool’s injury woe continues as the manager of the club, Jurgen Klopp confirmed that Joel Matip will be out of football for the rest of the 2020-2021 season.
The 29-year-old Cameroonian center-back has been a fair cover for Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez who have been out injured earlier in the season. But the Cameroon international has found it difficult to remain fit from the start of the season.
Due to the injury issues he has suffered so far this season, Joel Matip has managed to make only 10 Premier League appearances in which he scored a goal and provided an assist.
He sustained an ankle ligament injury which will keep him out of the season during the Liverpool league match against Tottenham on January 28. In the match which ended 1-3 in favor of Liverpool, Tottenham’s Heung-Min Son and Joel Matip were involved in a hard challenge which left Matip injured in the first half.
He managed to complete the first half and had to be substituted in the second half because he couldn’t continue with the injury.
“Unfortunately, we found out now after everybody looked at it that Joel will be out for the rest of the season,” Jurgen Klopp said.
“But he will be ready for the start of the next pre-season and finally everything will be sorted.
“The situation is just, the season started and Joel was injured when the season started, unfortunately,” Klopp said. “We should not forget that at Schalke when he was there he played pretty much all the time completely through, he never had something.
“Then he was unlucky with a Koulibaly challenge against Napoli in the last second, in the Everton game kind of things, a little bit with the foot here and there. If something started and then the situation is like our situation – that nobody can really wait because of our situation with Virgil out and Joe out – we always had to try to find the first moment when he can play again.
“It was really unlucky because it was a brilliant challenge he made actually, he saved our life at that moment in the Tottenham game when he won the challenge against Son.
“But he injured his ankle and played the game on and now is out for the season, so you can imagine how much he tried to stay on the pitch and tried to help us.
“We will wait for him. He has now the rest of this season, then the summer, then the pre-season to get ready again and he will be ready again.”
Due to the injury woes that Liverpool have been battling with, the club’s captain, Jordan Henderson had to be given a defensive role. Fabinho who is a natural midfielder was also given a defensive role. Their effort to keep Liverpool going amidst the injury woes is being complemented by the club’s youngsters, Nat Phillips and Rhys Williams.
The defensive crisis has also forced Jurgen Klopp to go for two new defenders on the deadline date of the January transfer window. The defensive department of the club has been reinforced by the signing of Ben Davies from Preston and Ozan Kabak from Schalke on Monday night, February 1.
Liverpool’s recruits might be available for the club when Brighton visit Anfield Stadium on Wednesday, February 3, for a league match which will kick off at 21:15.
Jürgen Klopp has confirmed Joel Matip is set to miss the remainder of the 2020/21 season due to an ankle ligament injury.
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) February 1, 2021
