Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp gives an injury update on Naby Keita, Luis Diaz and Joel Matip
Liverpool get ready for the final league clash against Southampton before the FIFA World Cup break begins and while speaking to reporters ahead of the match (h/t Liverpool Echo), Jurgen Klopp has given an update that Naby Keita and Luis Diaz are back to running while Joel Matip is available for selection.
Injury issues have been plaguing the team since the beginning of the season which has seen the team drop out of the title race and currently sit eighth in the league.
Jurgen Klopp was without much first-team personnel for the majority of the initial games of the season which has directly resulted in the performances being not up to the standard.
Most notably, our defence has been found lacking and is responsible for a lot of the dropped points. Klopp’s way of playing with a high line does suffer when Virgil van Dijk is not paired with a more composed defender.
Matip is a solid partner for Van Dijk at the back and the two have looked like our best pairing at the back whenever they have had an extended run together in the team. For Diaz, it is known that we could only see the Columbian back in a Reds jersey after the World Cup.
For Keita, it was his make-or-break season with his contract set to expire (Transfermarkt) after this season and there is a big possibility that the midfielder looks to change pastures come the January transfer window.
The return of first-team personnel is definitely good news for the manager who had been tinkering with his favoured formations to suit the players available.
With Southampton sacking their manager Ralph Hasenhuttl just before the fixture, it provides us with a perfect opportunity to strike an opposition which is currently unbalanced and end the first half of the season on a high note.
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On the other hand, there is always that bounce that teams could have whenever they have just sacked a manager. Although it can’t be said that the Saints players would be celebrating the Austrian manager’s removal given how well-liked he was – at least that’s what it seemed from outside.
