Joel Matip’s fitness levels continue to be assessed in the running to the crunch Premier League meeting between Liverpool FC and Manchester United on 17th January, said Jurgen Klopp ahead of his side’s visit to Villa Park.
The 29-year-old central defender had been withdrawn off the Anfield pitch owing to an adductor issue during the 1-1 stalemate against basement club West Brom last month, with later confirmation by Jurgen Klopp sealing Matip’s fate on the sidelines for a period of upto three weeks.
When quizzed upon his player’s avaliability for the upcoming FA Cup fixture scheduled to be played against Dean Smith’s Midlanders, Klopp admitted that despite good progress made by the former Schalke man, Matip will continue to be assesed in the forthcoming week to ascertain his presence in the Liverpool FC lineup for the United clash.
“Yes, we will try working on that obviously. Until the United game we still have nine days around about, so we try,” said the Liverpool FC boss, as quoted by the club’s official website.
“He is in a good way but if it will be United or a few days later, I don’t know. After the United game we will obviously play every three days again, so I think that’s pretty sure, but for the United game, we will see.”
Matip’s latest setback on the injury front came at the worst possible time for the Merseysiders, with both Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez not expected to feature again this season in the Reds shirt due to long-term layoffs, forcing Klopp to turn to fringe options in his squad in order to push through the intensive scheduling of the festive period.
