Liverpool
Liverpool Team News: Klopp Confirms Fresh Injury Blow But Duo Could Return
Jurgen Klopp has confirmed a fresh injury blow ahead of Liverpool’s trip to Brighton but two other players could return for the game.
Liverpool will look to keep the pressure on the top four with a win when they take on Brighton at the Amex Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
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 a team news and injury update.
The Reds boss revealed a fresh injury blow with the news that Joel Matip is expected to miss the trip to the south coast this weekend after picking up a muscle problem in midweek.
Matip played the full ninety minutes during Liverpool’s 3-0 win at Stoke on Wednesday night but Klopp says the centre-back felt a muscle injury after the game and is now set to miss out this weekend.
Ragnar Klavan wasn’t involved at the Bet365 Stadium due to illness but Klopp is hoping the Estonian international will recover in time to replace Matip in the back four against Brighton.
The only other major concern for Liverpool is Adam Lallana as the midfielder also missed the trip to Stoke in midweek due to a minor muscle issue.
CLICK HERE TO BACK LIVERPOOL TO BEAT BRIGHTON AT ODDS OF 20/1
[£1 max stake, over 18’s only, winning as free bet]
Lallana has only recently returned from a serious thigh injury and Klopp says he’ll make a late decision on the midfielders involvement this weekend as he’s still working his way back to full fitness.
Klopp told Liverpoolfc.com:
“It looks like Joel Matip is out. After the game he had a problem, he felt something muscle-wise. We have to make the final assessment but it doesn’t look like he is available for tomorrow. That’s pretty much all.
“Adam Lallana is still building up his fitness; Ragnar Klavan was ill but hopefully he is not anymore, especially when you think about Joel Matip’s situation. It’s not that we have a big choice to make in defence, so that’s the situation.
“We had a few knocks how it is after a game, and it is the shorter part of the week with Wednesday and Saturday [games]. It’s not a long time to recover from different things.
“Final decisions will be made after the session at three o’clock [today].”
Liverpool head in to the weekend action sitting fifth in the table following their win at Stoke so they’ll be looking to close the gap on the top four with another victory over Brighton tomorrow afternoon.
