Liverpool Team News: Klopp Confirms Major Double Injury Blow Ahead Of Man City

Liverpool will be looking to give their Premier League title challenge a major boost when they entertain rivals Manchester City at Anfield on New Year’s Eve.

Ahead of the game, Jurgen Klopp has been speaking to the media at his pre-match press conference this afternoon and he’s given reporters the latest team and injury news.

Unfortunately the German coach confirmed that Joel Matip has failed to recover from an ankle injury and will be missing for the visit of Pep Guardiola’s side to Merseyside this weekend.

Matip has missed the last three games against Middlesbrough, Everton and Stoke City after aggravating the niggling injury and there were hopes he would recover in time for Saturday’s crucial showdown with City.

However, Liverpool have decided to be cautious with the Cameroon star and not rush him back too soon so Matip won’t feature this weekend and will be given plenty of time to fully recover from the ankle problem.

Ragnar Klavan has deputised for Matip in recent games and the Estonian international has impressed at the back so he’s expected to continue alongside Dejan Lovren against City.

In a double blow for Liverpool, Klopp also confirmed that Philippe Coutinho will once again miss out as he continues to recover from ankle ligament damage which has kept him on the sidelines for over a month.

Coutinho had hoped to make a swift recovery and feature against City but the Brazilian international won’t be involved this weekend and Klopp feels the trip to Sunderland on December 2nd will also come too soon.

That means that the earliest Coutinho will be back in action is against Plymouth in the third round of the FA Cup on January 8th but we’ll have to wait and see how he progresses over the coming weeks.

Otherwise, the Reds have no fresh injury concerns as they look to cement their position in second place by securing a win over third-placed City this weekend while a win would also keep the pressure on leaders Chelsea.

Klopp confirms that Coutinho will miss City game: "It's too early. Pretty sure Sunderland game too early too." #LFC

— James Pearce (@JamesPearceEcho) December 29, 2016

Klopp confirms that Joel Matip will also miss the City game. #LFC

— James Pearce (@JamesPearceEcho) December 29, 2016