Speaking in his pre-match press conference ahead of the Man City game, Jurgen Klopp has confirmed that Ozan Kabak’s international clearance has gone through, meaning that he’s eligible to make his debut for the Reds this weekend.
Kabak wasn’t able to feature against Brighton in midweek, but he could play in this one as Klopp confirmed that his clearance has gone through.
“International clearance is yes, and that’s in the last few minutes because 10 minutes ago nobody told me that, so that’s great,” Klopp said.
Understandably, the German was then asked if Kabak will feature against City, and Klopp’s answer made it seem unlikely, with the German saying that in an ideal world he would have a few more weeks of preparation.
Of course, nothing about Liverpool’s centre-back situation at the moment is ideal, so we can’t write off the idea of Kabak playing against City.
“I don’t know, in our situation, we will see who can play again and who cannot, who should play again and who shouldn’t.
“In an ideal world, we will have a few weeks together on defensive things, on organisiation. Ben and Ozan yesterday had an analysed meeting and they trained, but they had an analysed meeting where they got shown the stuff we do usually, like a centre-half movie.
“Today a proper session, tomorrow a proper session and then we’ll see.”
It’s certainly interesting to hear Klopp’s comments here, it seems as though he doesn’t really want Kabak to play, but his hand may well be forced on that front.
The German’s team selection this weekend will certainly be interesting, and it’s a game Liverpool simply have to win to keep their title hopes alive.
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