Joel Matip and Trent Alexander-Arnold to miss Genk clash

Liverpool have been handed a double blow before their Champions League clash against Genk.

The Reds had to fight hard for their point at Old Trafford on Sunday and will be without two key men.

Trent Alexander-Arnold and Joel Matip are out of the clash against the Belgians and Jurgen Klopp provided an update on the pair (h/t Liverpool Echo):

“Trent (Alexander-Arnold)/ and Joel (Matip) are not even here, so it is clear that they are not available tomorrow.”

The German was hopeful that the right-back would feature at the weekend and claimed he was ill. Klopp also highlighted Matip’s issue despite the defender featuring against Manchester United.

“These things happen in this period of the year, to football players as well. Joel is the same thing as before the Man Utd game. We thought the two weeks would be enough. It’s not a serious thing but it is serious enough that he is not available tomorrow.”

Matip missed the two games prior to the United clash, and we could see a lot of changes at the back against Genk.

Changes galore at the back

It will be interesting to see who starts as the right-back given that Joe Gomez has looked a little rusty since returning to the side.

James Milner could also play in that position, but he could do a job for us in the midfield too.

Dejan Lovren could also be in the mix to start against the Belgians. The Croatian did well in our 2-1 win over Leicester City but hasn’t played since that game.

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Liverpool need to beat the Belgians to give themselves a great chance of qualifying from the group. However, Genk have been decent in the competition and drew with Napoli in their last outing.