Jurgen Klopp confirms Joel Matip’s injury isn’t healing as it was expected to

Jurgen Klopp provided an update on Joel Matip’s injury ahead of the clash against Everton.

The centre-back hasn’t featured for us since the 1-1 draw against Manchester United and won’t play in the Merseyside derby too.

Matip was our best defender alongside Virgil van Dijk but has been out due to a knee injury.

Joel Matip has been excellent alongside Virgil van Dijk over the past 18 months (Image credit: Getty)

Klopp claimed that Matip needs more time to recover but admitting the injury wasn’t healing as expected (h/t Liverpool Echo):

“Joel needs a bit more time.
“It is healing but not exactly how we wished for so he needs a bit more time and that will take a while. The others are fit and available.”

Joe Gomez has also struggled for consistency this season and has often been brought off the bench to replace Trent Alexander-Arnold late in games.

Matip had been excellent since last season and helped us win the Champions League too. It will be interesting to see when he returns for the Reds, but we have a packed schedule coming up.

Lovren starring for Liverpool

Matip’s absence should keep Dejan Lovren in the first-team. The Croatian has done a decent job this season alongside Virgil van Dijk.

It will be interesting to see how Klopp rotates the side given that Liverpool play almost every three days for the next two months.

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Liverpool play Bournemouth after the derby and then travel to Austria for a huge Champions League encounter.