Liverpool suffer major injury blow as key man faces 10 games on the sidelines

Liverpool have been dealt a major injury blow as Joel Matip is set to miss up to 10 games after suffering a setback in his recovery from a knee injury, according to the Evening Standard.

Matip has featured in just one of Liverpool’s last five games in all competitions with the centre-back playing a key role in their 1-1 draw with Manchester United at Old Trafford last weekend.

The defender had missed the previous two matches against Salzburg and Leicester City due to a knee problem which he initially sustained during the narrow 1-0 win at Sheffield United at the end of September.

Jurgen Klopp confirmed ahead of last week’s win over Genk in the Champions League that Matip had aggravated the knee injury against Man Utd but was hopeful the issue would resolve itself in a couple of weeks.

Klopp is quoted by the Evening Standard as saying last week:

“It is just a little thing which usually settles in the two weeks. It did [settle], but then it came up after the United game and so now we just have to make sure this time it settles finally, that’s all.

“It is not a massive injury, it’s just a bit annoying for him and he cannot [face Genk].”

However, it appears the injury is more serious than first thought as the Evening Standard are reporting that Matip has suffered a setback in his recovery and is now facing around six weeks on the sidelines.

Such a time-scale would rule the 28-year-old out of action until well into December and could see the Cameroonian international miss as many as 10 games in all competitions.

Matip looks set to miss Wednesday night’s Carabao Cup clash with Arsenal as well as Premier League matches against Aston Villa, Manchester City, Crystal Palace, Brighton, Everton and Bournemouth.

The defender would also sit out Champions League group stage games against Genk and Napoli while if he’s out for the full six weeks he’d also face a race against time to be fit for the trip to Salzburg on December 12.

The news will come as a huge blow to Liverpool as Matip has forged an impressive partnership alongside Virgil van Dijk at the heart of the back four so Klopp’s going to have a void to fill over the coming weeks.

Dejan Lovren has filled-in in recent games but Joe Gomez is another option for the Reds boss and he’s expected to get a chance to impress against Arsenal in the fourth round of the Carabao Cup tomorrow night.