According to Jurgen Klopp, both Joel Matip and Joe Gomez are well on their way to recovery.
Both central defenders have been out with broken bones, meaning Dejan Lovren has been partnering the world’s best in Virgil van Dijk for the past five games.
In fairness, he’d been fantastic, but endured a nightmare against Manchester City in the crucial defeat on January 3rd.
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When Lovren’s confidence is down, he can a weakness, so it’s imperative at least one of Gomez or Matip returns.
The boss reckons it shouldn’t be too long, and that Matip will be able to step straight back into the lineup, as his injury hasn’t prevented him from doing fitness work.
“[Joe is] getting better, it’s getting better, but he is not yet involved,” Klopp told a press-conference before the FA Cup tie Wolves on Monday.
“Joel is maybe a bit closer, I’m not sure, but hopefully he moves completely normal. We have to see how the bone healing is, that’s always how it is when something [has] broke, but from his movements it looks nearly normal.
“But there are still a few days to go until we can have them in team training, until [Joel] is ready for contact, which for a centre-half is pretty important. Until then we will make all the fitness work.
“The good thing is Joel can do all the fitness work already since a week or so ago, so that means when he will be back he will be 100 per cent fit. Then he has to get rhythm and everything will be fine.”
Ideally, Gomez can get fit too – as he’s our no.1 choice to partner van Dijk when everyone is fit.
The young Englishman was arguably just as good as VVD before his injury and well on his way to being regarded as his country’s best defender – ahead of John Stones – even.