Why Joel Matip didn’t play for Liverpool last night

Posted by

In all the furore that surrounding our 3-0 win at the Riverside, many forgot that just before kick-off we were greeted with the shock news that Joel Matip hadn’t made the match-day squad, and Jurgen Klopp had selected Dejan Lovren and Ragnar Klavan at the heart of defence…

Unlike last time that duo partnered each other at the back, away to Burnley at the start of the campaign, the defenders were excellent versus Middlesbrough, keeping a clean-sheet to boot.

SEE MORE:
Lallana names ‘brilliant’ Liverpool team-mate as ‘favourite player’

But they only played because of a foot injury suffered by Matip, who’s easily been our best defender this season.

The fact he travelled suggests the problem isn’t too serious, and we’d hope he’ll be available for the Merseyside Derby clash with Everton. Thankfully, it’s scheduled for Monday, giving the 26-year-old a few more days to get himself ready.

Everton will deploy Romelu Lukaku centrally who’ll provide a physical test for any of our defenders, and with Ronald Koeman’s side on the back of a victory over Arsenal, we’ll be in for a stern test. With it being a night match, Goodison will be rocking. We really hope Klopp’s boys can handle it.

More Stories Joel Matip