Klopp gives return date for Fabinho, Matip, Ox & Lovren

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Liverpool are likely to be without four important players throughout the hectic January – a month we’ve traditionally struggled in under Jurgen Klopp.

Fabinho, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Joel Matip and Dejan Lovren will all likely be back in full contention following our mini winter break, which takes place at the start of February – meaning they could be ready for the Norwich game on the 15th of that month.

If this is the case, the trio will miss matches against Wolves (twice), Sheffield United, Everton (FA Cup), Spurs, Manchester United, West Ham and Southampton.

“All positive but that again means unfortunately nothing in the first place because they should all be back in training [at the] latest by mid-January [but] how many games do we have until then, four or five?” the boss told Liverpool’s official website. “I’m not sure. So that’s a little bit of a problem but we have to see.”

“Ox is walking around here without crutches, without a boot, but we have to wait until the medical department gives us the green light. Joel is doing well, Fab is doing well, Dejan is doing well, so I would say in February we will have them all back. Until then, we have to see.”

We’re not sure if this is good or bad news, in all honesty. We hoped to have at least one of the centre-backs available a little sooner.

If Matip is out until mid-Feb, that will be a four month absence in total. That’s almost half the season.

The club has decided to bring Natt Philipps back from Stuttgart, which is a very smart decision, but we’ll be in a bit of bother if one of Joe Gomez of Virgil van Dijk pick up an injury.

Gomez especially is prone, so we might end up seeing Philipps alongside van Dijk before the end of winter.

Under Klopp’s guidance though, we back whoever takes the field to do the job.

More Stories Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain Dejan Lovren Fabinho Joel Matip