General football news
Liverpool team news update: Klopp without 4 players for derby against Everton
Jurgen Klopp will be without four players for the Mersyeisde derby as Liverpool entertain Everton at Anfield on Wednesday evening.
Liverpool will be looking to maintain their lead at the top of the table with a win over Everton in the Merseyside derby at Anfield on Wednesday night.
Ahead of the game, Jurgen Klopp has been speaking to the media at his pre-match press conference this afternoon and he’s provided a team news and injury update including the latest on the fitness of Joel Matip.
The Cameroonian international has been on the sidelines since suffering a knee injury during Liverpool’s 1-1 draw with Manchester United at Old Trafford on October 20 – the only time the Reds have dropped points in the league this season.
Matip has already been forced to miss Liverpool’s last eight matches in all competitions and reports suggest the centre-back is facing an extended spell on the sidelines as he struggles to overcome the injury.
Klopp has confirmed Matip needs ‘more time’ to recover as the injury is taking longer to heal than expected but the Reds boss refused to put a time-frame on the defender’s return to action.
However, the Liverpool coach did confirm that they suffered no fresh injury concerns during Saturday’s 2-1 win over Brighton but all existing absentees will remain on the sidelines.
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Fabinho is out of the Everton game tomorrow as the Brazilian isn’t due to recover from an ankle injury until early January while Alisson Becker is suspended after being sent off at the weekend and Nathaniel Clyne remains out with a serious knee injury.
Klopp is quoted as saying by Liverpoolfc.com:
“Joel needs a bit more time, it’s healing but it’s not exactly how we wished for. It needs a bit more time, so that will take a while.
“The rest are fit. The long-term injuries not in, but all the others are fit and available.”
It means Klopp will be without four players for the Merseyside derby – three of which would have started – so the Liverpool boss will hope the absentees don’t disrupt his team too much as he looks to maintain their incredible start to the season.
Liverpool hold a commanding eight point lead at the top of the table after dropping just two points from their 14 Premier League games so far and another win over Everton tomorrow would take them a step closer to clinching their first title since 1990.
