Liverpool’s injury woes appear to have resurfaced with a vengeance after it emerged that Joel Matip is the latest name to have been sidelined.
The Cameroonian suffered a calf concern that forced him off the pitch during a 3-2 defeat to Arsenal – an issue that will keep him in the treatment room for between ‘two to three weeks’, according to James Pearce at The Athletic.
Fortunately, the Merseysiders do have quality options waiting in reserve as Ibrahima Konate has recently recovered from his own struggles with injury and Joe Gomez remains an option.
Though it does mean that the FA Cup holders will likely be without the former Schalke star, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Andy Robertson, Arthur Melo, Luis Diaz, Curtis Jones, Naby Keita and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain for the trip to Scotland in the Champions League.
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How do Liverpool set up for a visit to the Ibrox?
We’d expect the latter of the two to slot in at right-back whilst the former partners Virgil van Dijk in a centre-back combination that proved effective last term.
Liverpool will no doubt cope more than fine with their French international in the heart of the backline and an absence from the limelight could yet do our No.66 some good.
Nonetheless, it’s difficult not to be concerned about injuries surfacing once again in a difficult and jam-packed month of football for us ahead of the World Cup.
This is now the third season in a row we have been hit with an injury crisis. Centre backs two seasons ago, and whilst that has remained an error hit with injuries you can add centre mids and fullbacks to that. We sold all the squad players in the last two years so the drop off to the current squad players is huge. Surely, FSG need to wake up and see the side needs urgent investment in every area. We look tired, broken and in desperate need of a refresh. Klopp is the man to do it but he needs backing. We can no longer say spending what we recoup is a good workable business strategy on the pitch as it’s come back to bite us.