Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has confirmed that his side will be without the services of winger Xherdan Shaqiri and center back Joel Matip for their Champions League group stage clash against Red Bull Salzburg on Wednesday night.
Liverpool has had an incredible start to the Premier League but the only blip this season so far has come in the European competition. The Merseyside giants endured a 2-0 loss against Serie A side Napoli in their opening game as Dries Mertens and Fernando Llorente to secures the win and three points for the Italians.
But one key area for Liverpool has been their defense even without first-choice goalkeeper Alisson Becker as Joel Matip has formed a solid partnership with Virgil van Dijk at the heart of Liverpool’s defense but the former Schalke star unfortunately picked up a knock during the win over Sheffield United last weekend at Bramall Lane.
Swiss superstar Xherdan Shaqiri has been on the sidelines due to a calf injury and missed last week’s third-round League Cup encounter against MK Dons and also the Premier League clash against Sheffield United.
And Jurgen Klopp has confirmed that the duo will be out of action for the Champions League game against Salzburg. In his pre-match press conference the 52 year old Klopp explained why Shaqiri and Matip will not be part of the traveling squad. The German confirmed, “Both not available for tomorrow night. Shaq will not be ready for tomorrow, but I don’t know exactly how it looks in the moment because he’s still in the hands of the medical department. With Joel, it’s not a big one, but it’s big enough that he’s not available for tomorrow night. We don’t want to [take] any risks and we don’t have to take any risks, and that’s why he will not be involved.”
